Gulf States in February 2026: the most important developments in economy
The Gulf States' economic news in February 2026 ended with air travel disruption on 28 February. Dubai Airports told passengers not to head to its terminals after a warning of a possible airport closure, and Swiss International Air Lines, Aeroflot and Belavia were among the carriers that suspended or cancelled flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Flights across the region were cancelled or rerouted, with airports in Doha and Muscat also affected, as airspace faced restrictions following military strikes. Kuwait banned food exports and fixed prices for essential goods, and the UAE said its reserves of staple goods were secure. Iran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, and OPEC+ was reported to be considering a larger output increase than planned.
The second story concerned business links to Jeffrey Epstein and to the Trump family. On 13 February DP World replaced its chairman after his name appeared thousands of times in released Epstein documents, and financial groups in Canada and the UK reportedly paused new deals with the company. Separately, a UAE-linked investment firm bought a 49% stake, reported at about $500 million, in a cryptocurrency company owned by the Trump family.
Oil prices moved with the United States-Iran diplomacy. The US announced new sanctions on Iran's oil sector on 6 February, and President Trump signed an order threatening tariffs on countries trading with Iran. Prices fell as talks began on 26 February, rose more than 2% on 27 February when talks were extended, and had earlier held near seven-month highs. OPEC+ kept output unchanged at the start of the month and was expected to resume increases, with 137,000 barrels per day under consideration for April.
Other items included Saudi Arabia and Syria signing multibillion-dollar investment agreements, Japan's Jera agreeing a 27-year LNG purchase from Qatar, and Saudi Arabia signing a long-term LNG purchase deal with the United States. Mubadala won over 700 million euros in the Signa bankruptcy case, and Fitch cut Bahrain's rating to 'B' from 'B+'.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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