00:00From power plants to water desalination stations, threats of strikes on key infrastructure
00:06sites in the Gulf have been traded from both sides of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
00:11With the stakes so high, who is the most dependent on these facilities?
00:17In the UAE, desalinated water accounts for more than 80 per cent of drinking water.
00:22Bahrain became fully reliant on desalinated water in 2016.
00:27Authorities say 100 per cent of groundwater is reserved for contingency plans.
00:32And Qatar is fully dependent on desalinated water.
00:36For Saudi Arabia, a much larger nation with a greater reserve of natural groundwater, about
00:42half of the water came from desalinated water as of 2023.
00:47While attacks on electricity could hurt Iran, they could also be catastrophic for its Gulf
00:52neighbours.
00:53They consume around five times as much power per capita.
00:57Electricity makes their gleaming desert cities habitable and also powers the desalination
01:03plants in Bahrain and Qatar.
01:05Threats to obliterate Iran's power network would also have a huge impact on its civilians.
01:11Dmitry Zdanikov is Reuters Energy and Commodities Editor.
01:15Iran survives thanks to gas and power facilities.
01:20It is the key thing for them to sort of maintain some standard of living for the population.
01:27So it's a crucial, crucial thing for Iran.
01:30Iranian attacks have effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth of global
01:35oil and liquefied natural gas.
01:37Some analysts say the resulting energy crisis was worse than the two oil shocks of the 1970s
01:44and the gas shortage connected to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine combined.
01:50Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait have cut production at their oil fields.
01:55That's because they cannot load crude onto tankers while the Strait remains shut.
01:59Storage facilities are brimming, leaving some with no choice but to slow output.
02:04This means crude and LNG exports critical to Gulf economies are stranded.
02:09And revenue streams dependent on daily export flows are disrupted.
02:14The Strait also carries about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas, much of it from
02:19Qatar, the world's largest LNG exporter.
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