IN THE north-western corner of Saudi Arabia, not far from the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, sits a patch of mostly bare desert — the ostensible location of Neom. This would-be city is intended to be a bold step into the future, and the showpiece of the kingdom’s attempt to diversify its economy away from oil. There has been talk of robots doing menial work, beaches lined with crushed marble and fleets of drones forming an artificial moon. One recent whim is to create the world’s longest buildings; like skyscrapers laid flat, these self-contained ecosystems would stretch for more than 100 miles. Estimates suggest the city could cost as much as US$500 billion to build.

When this wild dream was first unveiled in 2017, financing it seemed near impossible. Now a torrent of oil money may allow Saudi Arabia to get things rolling. The world economy’s recovery from Covid-19, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have pushed up oil prices, triggering a staggering transfer of wealth from global consumers to fuel-exporting countries. From January to June, the price of a barrel of Brent crude rose from US$80 to more than US$120 (it is back at around US$95 today). The IMF estimates that energy exporters in the Middle East and Central Asia will this year net US$320 billion more in oil revenues than it had previously expected, a figure equivalent to about 7 per cent of their combined GDP. Over the next five years, the cumulative surplus could reach US$1.4 trillion.

Gulf leaders must now work out how to spend the proceeds of what could be the last big gush of oil wealth. Some promise to pay down debts and save for a post-petroleum future. Yet there will be pressure to share the bounty with the public — and few checks on those who wish to splash out on mega-projects or global influence. The impact in diplomatic circles is already visible. On a visit to Jeddah in July, President Joe Biden bumped fists with Muhammad bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince. Biden had until recently kept the prince at arm’s length; the current political imperative to bring down petrol prices leaves little room for moral stances.