How Middle East powers are reshaping the clean energy landscape

The energy sector stands at a crossroads, with the Middle East well positioned to reinvent its global influence through strategic control of the battery supply chain.
Just as petroleum shaped the geopolitical order of the 20th century, lithium and other critical minerals are rapidly becoming the “white gold” of a clean energy future, and Gulf states are orchestrating a remarkable pivot that could redefine global power dynamics for decades to come.
Saudi Arabia’s approach reveals both ambition and foresight. Through Vision 2030, the Kingdom has launched a comprehensive strategy that leverages its energy expertise while transcending traditional resource extraction.
The collaboration between Saudi state mining firm Ma’aden and energy titan Aramco aims to commence commercial lithium production by 2027, establishing an integrated innovation ecosystem. This initiative seeks to meet the Kingdom’s growing demand for lithium, driven by plans to produce 500,000 batteries for electric vehicles and generate 110 gigawatts of renewable energy. The partnership focuses on the extraction of lithium from oilfield brine, utilizing advanced direct lithium extraction technologies.
Meanwhile, with pragmatism and audacity, the UAE is also establishing itself in the battery materials sector. Abu Dhabi’s International Resources Holding, chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, has established a 60-person trading unit focused on metals essential for the energy transition, including lithium. This move aligns with the UAE’s broader strategy to diversify its economy and capitalize on the growing demand for critical minerals.
Oman is positioning itself as a logistics hub for battery materials. Minerals Development Oman is setting up a trading team to manage the nation’s exports of minerals such as chromite and gypsum. This initiative aims to streamline mineral exports and integrate the country more deeply into the global battery supply chain.
Qatar is also leveraging its financial resources to secure a foothold in the critical minerals market. The Qatar Investment Authority has committed $180 million to TechMet, a mining-investment company backed by the US International Development Finance Corporation. This aims to reduce global reliance on Chinese-dominated supply chains for the minerals, such as lithium, essential for electric vehicle batteries.
However, significant challenges remain. The Gulf states face steep learning curves in mineral processing technologies that are dominated by established players. Environmental concerns about water usage in lithium extraction — particularly relevant in the water-scarce Gulf region — require innovative solutions. And market dynamics, including fluctuations in global lithium prices and competition from established players, require strategic planning and investment.
Yet the potential benefits extend far beyond regional economics. As the world races to electrify transportation and build robust energy storage systems, the Gulf’s emerging role offers a potential solution to the concentration risks that currently plague battery supply chains. While China maintains dominance in refining and manufacturing, the Middle East’s entry creates the possibility of more balanced, diversified networks.

Gulf nations are demonstrating that skills honed through decades of energy leadership apply perfectly to the materials powering our electric future.

Adrian Monck

For international stakeholders across Europe, Asia and the Americas, the Gulf’s battery pivot represents both reassurance and opportunity. The reliability and diplomatic finesse that made Middle Eastern energy partnerships indispensable might now strengthen clean energy supply lines worldwide. With the region serving as a counterbalance to supply concentrated in any single country, global manufacturers gain access to more resilient, diversified material sources.
Will this transition create an “OPEC for Batteries,” with coordinated influence over critical material flows? Or will it foster a more collaborative framework in which multiple stakeholders balance supply stability against market access? The answer probably lies somewhere in a system where Gulf expertise in managing strategic resources meets the technological innovation of manufacturing powerhouses, creating balanced interdependence rather than one-sided vulnerability.
What is increasingly clear is that this pivot represents not only economic diversification but strategic reinvention. By applying their considerable financial resources, technical capabilities and diplomatic experience to battery minerals, Gulf nations are orchestrating a remarkable second act on the global stage. They are demonstrating that skills honed through decades of energy leadership — long-term planning, complex international partnerships and balanced resource management — apply perfectly to the materials powering our electric future.
For a world increasingly concerned about sustainable development, energy security and technological advancement, the Middle East’s embrace of battery minerals offers a compelling narrative — one in which traditional energy powers become architects of the clean energy transition — that promises a future where critical supply chains benefit from the region’s stabilizing influence, diplomatic connections and infrastructure expertise.
What will success depend upon? The Gulf’s ability to build technical expertise in unfamiliar domains. The willingness of global manufacturers to diversify supply partnerships. And the development of governance frameworks that balance commercial interests against broader stability.
Yet, given the remarkable talent for adaptability the region has shown throughout its history, transforming from traditional societies into global energy powers in a single generation, there is every reason to believe it will master this transition as well.
The Gulf’s “battery moment” represents more than regional reinvention, it offers a potential solution to one of the clean energy transition’s most “wicked” problems. By creating diversified, reliable supply networks for critical minerals, Middle Eastern nations could help ease the tension between rapid decarbonization and resource security.
And in doing so, they would once again demonstrate a unique capacity to shape global energy systems through strategic vision, careful diplomacy and long-term thinking, qualities that will prove just as valuable in the battery age as they were during the oil era.

• Adrian Monck is a senior adviser at the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and authors the geopolitics newsletter, Seven Things.