144THE POLITICS OF REFORMIn 2011, the sultanate surprised the world— and Middle East
scholars— by joining the Arab Spring.^20 Omanis, who had for so long
been portrayed as grateful and docile subjects of Sultan Qaboos’s mod-
ernizing drives, made it clear that the old order was starting to crack. A
younger generation with no memory of the pre- Qaboos privations now
formed more than 75 percent of the population. Rather than viewing
their lot through the lens of their parents, younger Omanis bench-
marked their privileges against the much greater largesse of the UAE
and Qatar. Their awareness was enhanced by social media tools, which
helped them organize protests and fire off lists of demands to Sultan
Qaboos. High unemployment among young Omanis— half of whom
do not work— probably contributed. Outside Bahrain, the uprising in
Oman was the most virulent in the Gulf. Rioters burned a department
store and attacked government buildings. Sultan Qaboos called in the
army— while quickly creating state jobs, increasing employment bene-
fits, and firing several members of his cabinet.^21 The sultan’s moves
temporarily restored order.
But even in the face of unrest, Oman was forced to pare back subsi-
dies in order to avoid economic disaster. Amid persistent deficits and
falling oil and gas revenue in 2015, the sultanate doubled natural gas
prices for some industrial customers to $3 per MMBtu. In 2016, Oman
increased prices for water, gasoline, and diesel fuel. Water prices were
left as is for the residential sector, but those for the government, com-
mercial, and industrial sectors rose by 17 percent.^22 The government also
put commercial and industrial customers on notice that electricity prices
would soon increase.
Following the example set in the UAE, Oman adjusted prices monthly
based on world market levels. Gasoline prices initially jumped 23 per-
cent to US$1.38 per gallon, and diesel rose by 10 percent to US$1.57 per
gallon. However, the sultanate wavered in late 2017 as rising oil prices
forced up prices at the pump, leading Omanis to picket the Ministry of
Oil and Gas. The sultanate temporarily capped the price of regular gas-
oline at $1.82 per gallon— restoring a subsidy— until reversing course and
raising prices in January 2018. By June 2018, Omanis were paying $2.12