The GCC countries, as a bloc, face growing dilemmas in both their demand- and supply-side management of energy resources. Domestic energy demand is forecasted to grow significantly over the next two decades — especially for Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar — propelled by rising expectations, demographic factors and economic diversification. The upheavals of the “Arab Spring” have shifted the previous assumption that the private sector will be the leading force for economic change, towards one of more sustained GCC government intervention. This will force GCC governments to make painful choices between economic and political rationality in their domestic energy policies.

This paper argues that the GCC will need to challenge the existing set of rules on how they individually manage their domestic energy programs – be they oil, gas, renewable or nuclear – and plan for a more effective inter-GCC energy sufficiency and supply network. Will the CCC band together to supply the most productive and energy-needy bloc members, or continue with their inefficient domestic allocation of energy – especially in terms of gas – and pursue go-it-alone energy policies? Will the GCC re-think its long term non-GCC exports in favor of regional energy integration? Will it see this as a cornerstone on which to build an effective economic union, such as the EU's energy inter-dependency?