This article seeks to link the dynamics of oil with the spread of English in the Arabian Gulf region. It argues that "oil" sustains certain social, economic, and political conditions that (a) provide a fertile environment for the expansion of English and that (b) disproportionately serve the economic interests of the English-speaking nations of the West. It also contends that the successful expansion of English in this region is to a large degree contingent upon pacifying the political force of "Islam."