Gulf Energy Security During the COVID- 19: From the Security of Supply to the Security of Demand

Abstract

During 2019-2020, neither the outbreak of coronavirus nor growing domestic issues were able to prevent the US and Iran from continuing their confrontation. While being nothing of a new, these tensions unintentionally demonstrated a very important change in the notion of the energy security of the Gulf. In the past, the intense exchange of mutual threats between the US and Iran-especially if followed by the actual aggressive actions-would inevitably increase the concerns of oil consumers and affect oil prices. However, none of these happened. Nowadays, the US-Iranian tensions, in the first turn, affect the interests of regional hydrocarbon producers who are much more than consumers worried about their sustainable access to the external markets and security of export flows, highlighting serious shift in the concept of the Gulf energy security towards the security of demand rather than supply.