# Bahrain's force majeure

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Bahrain's force majeure," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrains-force-majeure/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's explanation of Bahrain declaring force majeure on its energy commitments during the 2026 Iran war — why it is catastrophic for Bahrain and irrelevant to the global oil market, since the kingdom produces and consumes about a hundred thousand barrels a day and sells only the output of a small offshore field gifted to it by Saudi Arabia.*

- **Declared:** Force majeure on energy supply commitments
- **Production:** About 100,000 barrels a day
- **Consumption:** About 100,000 barrels a day
- **Export source:** A small offshore field gifted by Saudi Arabia
- **Effect on the global economy:** None, per Kiriakou

**Bahrain's force majeure** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s reading of the kingdom's declaration, during the [2026 Iran war](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/2026-iran-war), that it could no longer meet its energy supply commitments — a step he treats as severe for Bahrain and immaterial to everyone else.

## The declaration

Kiriakou glossed the term before the fact. *"Bahrain it declared force majeure, which is a legal term in contract law that says, we are no longer able … to honor our commitments under this contract. They're saying we can no longer supply energy as the state Bahraini oil company said that they could."*[1]

Asked whether that was a major problem, he split the question in two. *"It's a major problem for Bahrain, but it won't be a major problem for the global economy because Bahrain only produces about a hundred thousand barrels a day."*[2]

## Where the exported oil comes from

The reason the small production figure does not settle the matter for Bahrain is the second half of Kiriakou's account. *"They consume about a hundred thousand barrels a day, but the Saudis have gifted Bahrain a small offshore oil field and that's the oil that they sell."*[2]

He describes the arrangement as a subsidy in kind: *"it's like a little bit of a little bit of free money just to make sure that the Bahrainis can keep up with the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries."*[3]

On that structure the export income is not a supplement but the whole of the kingdom's oil revenue — and it cannot move: *"if there's force majeure and they can't export it, which they can't cuz for all intents and purposes the Strait of Hormuz is closed right now."*[3]

Kiriakou served in [Bahrain](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrain-1994-1996-posting) and returns to it repeatedly as the Gulf state whose internal arrangements he knows best; his account of its Sunni ruling family and Shia majority is recorded at [Bahrain's naturalisation policy](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrains-naturalisation-policy).

## See also

- [2026 Iran war](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/2026-iran-war)
- [Strait of Hormuz](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/strait-of-hormuz)
- [Bahrain Posting (1994–1996)](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrain-1994-1996-posting)
- [Bahrain's naturalisation policy](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrains-naturalisation-policy)
- [2026 Iran war economic shock](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/2026-iran-war-economic-shock)

## Sources

1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-03-11), at 02:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL2bZfMJnLE&t=154s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-11-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-03-11), at 03:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL2bZfMJnLE&t=185s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-11-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-03-11), at 03:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL2bZfMJnLE&t=217s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-11-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrains-force-majeure/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt