Sebastian Castelier

Freelance journalist.

Gulf Countries Race for Foreign Capital Sebastian Castelier · January 2022 Sovereign funds, foreign investments, oil companies’ low-profile borrowing or sales of shares, Gulf countries are in search of the winning martingale to attract foreign capital deemed essential for diversifying the regional economy when the oil windfall is exhausted.
To prepare the initial (…)
In the Paradise of Black Gold, Carbon Neutrality Is in the Pipeline Sebastian Castelier · December 2021 The six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council are among those with the highest CO2 emissions per head in the world. As battle is joined for decarbonising the global economy, the Gulf oil monarchies declare carbon-neutral targets—but without giving up exporting hydrocarbons.
Swimming (…)
Gulf Airlines, The Art of Copy-And-Pilfer Sebastian Castelier · October 2021 Obliged by the energy transition to diversify, the Gulf monarchies want to secure a future or themselves when the black gold has run out. However their rivalries are intensifying on various economic fronts, especially air transport, where Saudi Arabia intends to outdo Qatar and the Emirates. (…)
An Economic Transition Fraught With Danger for the Petro-States of the Gulf Sebastian Castelier · July 2021 Dissociating the price per barrel from the Gulf economies, addicted to petro-dollars, is a risky affair for the ruling families. The attempts at “adjustment programmes” have been met with loud protests and the younger generations are likely to hold to account those who have been running their (…)
Gulf. The Sorrowful Homecoming of Migrant Workers Sebastian Castelier · June 2021 For years, the African and Asian workers gone to seek their fortune in the Eldorado of the Persian Gulf were acclaimed as heroes in their villages. Now they are coming back empty-handed to swell the ranks of the unemployed, having lost their jobs on account of the pandemic. Some are trying to go (…)
Saudi Aramco: Last Man Standing in the Oil Era Sebastian Castelier · May 2021 Decarbonising the economy does not mean bringing the world’s oil consumption to a sudden stop. As the planet’s number one producer of black gold, Saudi Aramco means to exploit this situation to the hilt, making Saudi Arabia one of the champions of the petroleum twilight.
The Covid-19 pandemic (…)
Oman Stymied by the “Green” Turning Sebastian Castelier · April 2021 A year after the death of Sultan Qabos Ben Said Al-Said, the “father of the nation”, Oman is still trying to find its way in a world where the supremacy of petroleum is on its last legs, losing out to renewable energies which require a profound socio-economic transformation.
The time is ripe (…)
Change of course for the Gulf States’ Sovereign Wealth Funds Sebastian Castelier · July 2020 Their sovereign funds are multi-faceted bodies which invest the Gulf states’ budget surpluses on the world’s stock exchanges. But the volatility of oil prices, the increasing debt ratios and the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on the economies of the region should by rights redirect these (…)
Gulf Hubs Asphyxiated by Covid-19 Sebastian Castelier · April 2020 Over 800 jetliners are grounded in the airports of the Gulf countries. Nerve centre of the air routes between Asia, Europe and Africa, the region has cause for worry: will the industry that plays a crucial role in the diversification of economies that are far too dependent on hydrocarbon (…)
Qatar: Farming Ambitions Detrimental to the Environment Sebastian Castelier · October 2019 Seriously affected by the diplomatic crisis that has divided the Gulf countries since 2017, Qatar brandishes its determination to achieve food self-sufficiency as a political riposte at the risk of durably depleting its precious subsoil hydraulic resources.
A stone’s throw from the Qatar (…)