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  • Saudi Arabia approves new procurement law

    Administrator

    17 August 2026

    Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers has approved a new Government Tenders and Procurement Law (GTPL), introducing changes to public procurement procedures and government contracting.

    The Ministry of Finance announced the approval on 5 August.

    The new law aims to strengthen governance and transparency, improve procurement planning and implementation, and promote fairness and equal opportunities in government contracting.

    The changes give government entities greater flexibility in procurement while introducing new provisions that could affect contractors and suppliers, including contract variations, outstanding payments and procurement procedures.

    Contract flexibility

    According to a Ministry of Finance summary of the key amendments, one of the main changes allows government entities to increase existing contract items by up to 20% of the contract value. Contractor approval is required for increases exceeding 10%, while the total increase from adding new items or increasing existing items cannot exceed 20% of the contract value.

    The amendments also introduce measures addressing outstanding payments to contractors. A government entity cannot make a new award when it has outstanding amounts owed to contractors for works or procurement and the required procedures have not been taken, after notification from the Ministry of Finance.

    Exceptions apply where non-payment relates to ministry procedures or where the government entity has taken the required action on a claim but does not have sufficient budget allocations.

    Single committee

    Under the new law, the committees responsible for opening and examining bids will be merged into a single committee.

    The maximum value for direct procurement will rise from SR100,000 ($26,700) to SR1m ($267,000) while government entities will be required to explain and document their use of direct procurement.

    Direct procurement will also be permitted in cases involving research, development and innovation and certain contracts with professional practitioners.

    The amendments reduce the minimum standstill period following a procurement award from five working days to three working days. Government entities will also be able to negotiate where the best bid exceeds the estimated cost plus the permitted contingency.

    Localisation

    The new framework includes provisions covering industrial localisation and knowledge transfer. The Ministry of Finance said it will issue rules for contracting for these purposes in cooperation with the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority.

    A new regulation will also cover research, development and innovation, including tendering and contracting provisions for these activities.

    Other changes involve contractors’ exposure to penalties. The maximum delay penalty on contracts, excluding supply contracts, will fall from 20% to 15% of contract value. The maximum penalty for non-performance in continuous-performance contracts will also fall from 20% to 15%.

    The value of purchases exempt from providing a final guarantee will rise from SR100,000 ($26,700) to SR300,000 ($80,000). Additional exemptions will apply to contracts with professional practitioners and emergency or urgent cases.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18805103/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • GCC reviews first phase of water interconnection study

    Administrator

    17 August 2026

    The GCC General Secretariat has completed the first phase of a study examining the feasibility of developing water interconnection projects between GCC member states.

    A two-day workshop reviewing the study’s findings concluded on 12 August at the headquarters of the GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

    The GCC General Secretariat organised the workshop in cooperation with GCCIA, with representatives from relevant authorities and experts in water, infrastructure and water security taking part.

    Participants reviewed the first phase findings, including an assessment of existing water supply infrastructure and the actual water needs of GCC member states. They also discussed the technical requirements and data needed to complete the study.

    The study is intended to identify practical options and feasible solutions for developing a regional water interconnection network. This includes establishing an implementation roadmap.

    The initiative aims to improve the GCC states’ ability to respond to emergencies and crises and support continuity of water supplies.

    First meeting

    The workshop followed a virtual meeting on 22 July between the GCC General Secretariat and Saudi Arabia’s water authorities as part of the study.

    That meeting, which also involved consultancy Artelia, reviewed the study’s methodology and implementation stages. These include assessing existing water systems across GCC states, their resilience and emergency readiness, and developing technical options for bilateral water interconnection projects.

    In Saudi Arabia, the study is focused primarily on the Eastern Province and Riyadh. It is assessing water production and desalination facilities, transmission pipelines, strategic reservoirs, pumping stations and existing and planned projects.

    The study is also examining potential bilateral connections between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, as well as the possibility of a connection with the UAE.

    The 22 July meeting also discussed potential connection points and routes, water flow directions and the possibility of designing interconnection pipelines to operate in both directions.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18802726/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • KJO allows more time for Dorra gas project PMC bids

    Administrator

    17 August 2026

     

    Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) has allowed engineering firms additional time to prepare fresh proposals for a revised tender for project management consultancy (PMC) services on the multibillion-dollar Dorra gas field facilities development project.

    MEED has been reporting since last March on KJO’s efforts to advance a project to produce gas from the offshore Dorra field, located in Gulf waters in the Neutral Zone shared by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

    KJO, which is jointly owned by Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Company and KPC subsidiary Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, divided the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope of work for the Dorra field gas production project into four EPC packages – three offshore and one onshore. It recently awarded contracts for all the EPC packages, worth close to $7bn in total.

    The tender’s broad scope involves providing PMC services for the EPC works for the Dorra gas facilities development project.

    KJO issued the original tender for PMC services on 29 September last year, and engineering firms submitted bids on 19 January this year, MEED previously reported.

    In the months following bid submission, KJO held discussions with bidders on contract terms and pricing, sources said. The client ultimately decided to retender the PMC services contract with a revised scope of work, MEED reported in late July.

    “The regional conflict in the first and second quarters, and Iran’s hostilities against Gulf states, made the future of the [Dorra gas] project uncertain,” a source previously told MEED.

    “[For KJO], developing a gas field that lies in disputed waters with Iran seemed risky business at the time, and that explains the large part of the delay [in the PMC tendering process],” the source added.

    KJO had set an initial bid submission deadline of 17 August for the revised PMC tender for the Dorra gas facilities development project, it was previously reported.

    The client has now extended the deadline for submission of proposals by three weeks, to 7 September, sources said.

    The following firms, among others, are understood to have been invited by KJO to bid for the revised PMC tender:

    • Fluor (US)
    • KBR (US)
    • Technip Energies (France)
    • Wood (UK)
    • Worley (Australia)

    In addition to these bidders, firms that submitted proposals in the first tender round on 19 January included Saudi Arabia/UAE-based Kent and Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas.

    Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been pressing ahead with their plan to jointly produce 1 billion cubic feet a day of gas from the Dorra gas field.

    The two countries have been producing oil from the Neutral Zone – primarily from the onshore Wafra field and the offshore Khafji field – since at least the 1950s. With a growing need to increase natural gas production, they have been working to exploit the Dorra offshore field, understood to be the only gas field in the Neutral Zone.

    Discovered in 1965, the Dorra gas field is estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic metres of gas and 310 million barrels of oil.

    The Dorra facilities scheme is one of three multibillion-dollar projects launched by subsidiaries of Aramco and KPC to produce and process gas from the Dorra field that have advanced in the past few months.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18802075/main1835.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Neom’s next phase is crucial to green hydrogen pipeline

    Administrator

    17 August 2026

    Commentary
    Mark Dowdall
    Power & water editor

    The completion of construction at Neom Green Hydrogen comes at an important point for Saudi Arabia’s wider hydrogen ambitions.

    The project has already shown that a large green hydrogen scheme can secure financing by reaching financial close in 2023 with long-term offtake from Air Products.

    With the facility now moving into commissioning ahead of a targeted commercial operations date next year, Neom could soon give lenders and developers real evidence on the performance, costs and risks of a large-scale green hydrogen project.

    That could be important for projects still moving through development. Acwa’s Yanbu Green Hydrogen Hub, for example, is targeting commercial operations in 2030.

    The project has brought in Germany’s EnBW as a co-developer and minority investor and Japan’s Itochu as a co-developer, investor and offtaker. Acwa is targeting production of 2.5 million tonnes a year of green ammonia from the hub.

    Saudi Arabia is also putting more of the framework around the industry in place. In July, the government granted Acwa exclusive rights to export green hydrogen produced in the kingdom along with its derivatives, including green ammonia, methanol and fuels.

    However, partnerships and policy support alone will not remove the commercial questions facing projects. Yanbu still needs to progress through development and secure the financing needed to move into construction.

    Neom’s financing structure and 30-year offtake may be specific to the project, but its operating performance should give future developers and lenders a clearer reference point for assessing production, reliability and costs.

    While Neom will not make the next projects bankable on its own, if it stays on track and performs as expected, it could give lenders a stronger basis for assessing projects that follow. In the long-run, this could be one of its most important contributions.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18800285/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Five bid for King Salman Bay construction work

    Administrator

    17 August 2026

     

    Five teams have submitted bids for the contract covering the marine infrastructure works at King Salman Bay on the Red Sea coast, north of Jeddah.

    MEED understands that the bids were submitted on 31 July.

    The bidders include:

    • Deme / Archirodon (Belgium/Netherlands)
    • ⁠Van Oord (Netherlands)
    • ⁠Abdulmohsen Altamimi / NMDC Group (local/UAE)
    • ⁠Urbacon / Negida Contracting  (Qatar/Egypt )
    • ⁠Modern Building Leaders / China Harbour (local/China)

    The scope includes dredging and earthworks, as well as quay wall and edge protection works spanning about 11 kilometres.

    King Salman Bay is expected to be a waterfront development that aims to reshape the city’s northern Red Sea frontage into a mixed-use destination, anchored by public-realm improvements and leisure-led development.

    Saudi gigaproject developer Red Sea Global (RSG) is developing the project.

    The latest development follows RSG’s award of an estimated SR100m ($27m) contract to construct a solid waste management centre at its Red Sea Project. The scope includes four buildings: a materials recycling facility, a transfer station, an administration building and a vehicle maintenance building.

    In October last year, MEED reported that RSG had secured a SR6.5bn ($1.7bn) credit facility to further develop Amaala, its luxury tourism destination on Saudi Arabia’s northwestern Red Sea coast.

    READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18800910/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • PDO allows more time for Al-Ghubar field project prices

    Administrator

    17 August 2026

     

    Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has allowed contractors additional time to prepare commercial bids for a project to build a new facility to handle additional oil production from the Al-Ghubar field in the sultanate.

    The Al-Ghubar field is located in the Ghaba Salt Basin at Qarn Alam, within majority state-owned PDO’s Block 6 concession area.

    The Al-Ghubar gas-oil gravity drainage (GOGD) facility will be designed as a sour (hydrogen sulphide) facility and is expected to handle maximum oil production of 1,800 standard cubic metres a day (cm/d), a maximum total water flow rate of 10,421 standard cm/d, and maximum gas lift of 256,934 standard cm/d. Production from the planned Al-Ghubar GOGD facility will be exported to PDO’s main oil line.

    Following receipt of the technical bids for the project in July, PDO granted contractors additional time – until 16 August – to submit commercial bids for the project, MEED recently reported.

    The project operator has now extended the deadline for submitting commercial bids to 1 September, sources told MEED.

    PDO floated the tender for the Al-Ghubar GOGD facility project in March, setting an initial bid submission deadline of 4 May, MEED previously reported.

    PDO later extended the deadlines for submission of technical and commercial bids to 26 July and 7 August, respectively. Contractors submitted technical proposals by the revised deadline, according to sources.

    The following contractors, among others, are understood to be bidding for the project:

    • Archirodon (Greece)
    • Engineering for the Petroleum & Process Industries (Egypt) / Petrojet (Egypt)
    • Jereh (China)
    • Kent (UAE)
    • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)

    The scope of work on the Al-Ghubar GOGD facility project covers the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the following:

    • On-plot scope consists of:
      • Production separator  
      • Test separator  
      • Concentric wash tank
      • Wet oil pump
      • Water bath heater
      • Surge tank
      • Gas injection/gas lift compressor (centrifugal)
      • Utilities (Instrument Air compressors, chemical injection skids, drain system, vent system) 
      • Suction scrubber
      • Air coolers
      • Discharge scrubbers
      • Condensate flash drum
      • Atmospheric pressure knock-out drum 
      • Flare system
      • Gas heater
      • Water disposal pump
      • Oil shipping pump
      • New 132kV substation and plant substation (housing 6.6kV & 415-Volt switchboard)
      • New control room
         
    • Off-plot scope consists of:
      • Off-plot pipeline network (bulk header, test header, gathering infrastructure/ gathering line header, instrument air header, water disposal header)
      • Two remote manifold stations 
      • Tie-in connection to main oil line
      • Tie-in to gas network pipeline

    PDO previously intended to tender the Al-Ghubar GOGD project under its framework structure with selected EPC contractors, but eventually tendered it separately.

    PDO is the operator of the Block 6 hydrocarbons concession in Oman, which is the sultanate’s largest and most prolific concession. Situated onshore and covering an area of 75,119 square kilometres, Block 6 contains 202 oil fields and 43 gas fields, with PDO producing a total of approximately 680,000 barrels a day (b/d) of oil and condensates from those fields.

    The Omani government holds a 60% stake in PDO through Energy Development Oman (EDO). The other shareholders are UK-based Shell (34%), France’s TotalEnergies (4%) and Thailand’s state-owned PTTEP (2%).

    ALSO READ: PDO floats tender for major flare gas monetisation scheme
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18799485/main.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • L’imad eyes full takeover of AD Ports Group

    Administrator

    17 August 2026

    Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investor, L’imad Holding, has announced its intention to take full ownership of AD Ports Group by offering to acquire the remaining 24.6% of its publicly listed shares through a voluntary, conditional, all-cash tender offer.

    The bid will be launched via L’imad’s wholly owned unit, Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), which already controls 75.42% of AD Ports Group. The offer seeks to acquire 100% of the issued and paid-up share capital and take the port operator private.

    Shareholders would be offered AED6.25 per share in cash. L’imad said the offer provides investors with “an attractive opportunity to realise certain and immediate value”.

    Based on the proposed terms, the transaction values the remaining free float at about AED31.8bn ($8.66bn).

    Rothschild & Co’s local office has been appointed financial adviser.

    Emirates NBD Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank will act as joint lead receiving banks, while Emirates NBD Capital and First Abu Dhabi Bank will serve as joint lead managers.

    Cairo-headquartered EFG Hermes has been appointed co-lead manager, and UK-based Allen Overy Shearman Sterling is acting as legal adviser.

    The move comes shortly after AD Ports Group posted its strongest quarterly performance to date, reporting an 88% increase in second-quarter net profit to AED836m ($227m).

    Revenue for the second quarter of this year rose 47% to $2bn, supported by gains across maritime and shipping, economic cities and free zones, and logistics.

    In January, Abu Dhabi approved plans to consolidate ADQ’s investment portfolio into L’imad Holding under the chairmanship of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

    L’imad has been mandated to build, develop and manage a diversified portfolio of assets and projects in priority sectors in the UAE and internationally, with a focus on infrastructure and real estate, financial services, and asset and investment management.

    Once fully consolidated, the platform will encompass more than 25 investment companies and platforms, alongside over 250 subsidiaries.

    L’imad’s portfolio includes Taqa (utilities and power), Modon Properties (real estate), Etihad Airways (aviation), PureHealth (healthcare), Etihad Rail (transport infrastructure), Wio Bank (digital finance), AD Ports (logistics and maritime trade), McLaren (motorsport) and Louis Dreyfus (agricultural commodities).

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18798489/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Saudi firms to build Expo 2030 power infrastructure

    Administrator

    17 August 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Saudi Energy, formerly Saudi Electricity Company, has named four contractors that will deliver electricity infrastructure for the Expo 2030 Riyadh site.

    The local Al-Babtain, Haif Company, Alfanar and Trading & Development Partnership (TDP) will construct several substations and connect them to the national grid under an agreement signed between Saudi Energy and Expo 2030 Riyadh Company (ERC).

    Saudi Electricity Projects Development Company (PDC), Saudi Energy’s project development arm, will oversee implementation.

    The scope includes a main 380/132kV supply station and three primary 132/13.8kV substations as well as associated electricity infrastructure.

    In March, MEED reported that Saudi Energy was moving forward with procurement of an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for three 132/13.8kV substations in Riyadh to support Expo 2030.

    The latest agreement is understood to relate to the same substations. According to sources, nine companies submitted bids for the project in June.

    These included the following local firms: Al-Babtain Contracting, Al-Gihaz Holding, Al-Haider Company, Alfanar Projects, Haif Company, Mohammed Al-Ojaimi Group, Nesma Infrastructure & Technology and Tareg Al-Jaafari Contracting Establishment.

    India’s Larsen & Toubro also submitted a bid for the project.

    The infrastructure will provide electricity to the Expo site ahead of the event and allow testing and trial operations to be completed before the Expo opens.

    In January, the local firm Nesma & Partners won an estimated SR1bn ($267m) contract to deliver the initial infrastructure works at the Expo site.

    Expo 2030 Riyadh is scheduled to take place from 1 October 2030 to 31 March 2031. The event is expected to attract about 42 million visits and will involve 197 participating countries.

    READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18798653/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
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