As regional geopolitical tensions persist just days before the scheduled signing of the US-Iran peace memorandum in Geneva, Saudi Arabia has maintained a cautious operational stance, keeping four of its supergiant offshore oil fields idle. The Marjan, Safaniya, Zuluf, and Abu Safa fields, which collectively account for a massive portion of the Kingdom’s production capacity, remain staffed only by skeleton crews following a recent radio warning transmitted by the IRGC to an American destroyer operating in the Strait of Hormuz. For the thousands of expatriate energy sector professionals based in the Eastern Province, the extended operational pause underscores the delicate security environment, though market analysts remain optimistic that the imminent diplomatic accords in Switzerland will trigger a rapid normalization of maritime and offshore activities.
