Decades of oil dependence in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) have imprinted on the region in profound ways. High average oil prices helped to nurture an environment of economic isolation and self-reliance in which local populations were shielded from the worst effects of globalisation. But new technologies introduced in the shale oil fields of Texas and North Dakota have changed all that.
An effective oil price ceiling now exists, and markets across the GCC are having to recalibrate their social and economic models. Some progress has been achieved; technical reforms to capital markets in Saudi Arabia are a case in point. But as one international banker based in the region puts it, this represents the "low-hanging fruit". Much tougher reforms lie ahead.
