Saudi-Qatar Row and Oil/Gas Market
The severance of diplomatic ties between Qatar and a Saudi-led alliance of Arab governments has given rise to the worst diplomatic crisis in the Arab world since the establishment of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 1981.
The tension between the Persian Gulf Arab states has engulfed the entire region. In addition to leading some other countries to cut ties with Qatar, the economic sector has been affected. Ever since Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) closed their sea and land borders and airspace to Qatar, stocks started tumbling in the Doha stock market. Furthermore, fear for an escalation of the crisis has resulted in the shortage of stocks in some stores. Of course, the impact of the political crisis in the Persian Gulf Arab world was not limited to the countries involved. World energy market also reacted. Qatar is not an influential country in crude oil market, but it is among the largest exporters of natural and liquefied gas. Therefore, future developments in Qatar's relations with Saudi Arabia and its allies could largely affect the global energy markets.
Aspects of Crisis
Over recent years, having relied on windfall oil and gas wealth, as well as media propaganda campaign, Qatar has sought to become an influential element in the Middle East developments.
Qatar has pushed its foreign policy through, via its big wealth, causing dissatisfaction among its Arab neighbors. Some of them are Doha's support for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip as well as armed groups opposed to the policies of Saudi Arabia and UAE in Libya and Syria. Qatar-funded Al Jazeera television is financed by gas sales. This network has on many occasions triggered the wrath of Arab governments in the Middle East region.
Qatar's conflict of interests with Saudi Arabia has caused serious discrepancies between the two governments. This conflict is rooted in both attitude and energy.
As far as attitude and ideology are concerned, the Qataris favor the Muslim Brotherhood while the Saudis have been promoting and supporting Wahhabism and Takfirism all across the region. Riyadh and Doha have also been locked in a tough rivalry in the energy sector. The Saudis have never liked to recognize Qatar as one of the most important exporters of gas. The crisis between Qatar and a Saudi-alliance of Arab governments started after Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, was quoted as uttering rhetoric criticizing Riyadh's regional policies. The remarks were immediately denied by Qatar officials, but the Saudis and their mouthpieces accepted them as true and fired a broadside