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  Kuwait appoints KPMG for ports strategic plan

  Administrator

  4 November 2026

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  Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA) has appointed the local office of UK-headquartered KPMG to develop its ports strategic plan, which aims to improve the competitiveness, connectivity and performance of Kuwait’s commercial ports.

  KPMG will act as lead consultant on the strategic consultancy engagement, with Netherlands-based Haskoning Nederland and local engineering firm Dar Gulf Consult providing engineering consultancy support.

  KPMG will consolidate the three consultants’ work into a single strategic plan. It will lead the market, commercial and organisational analysis, as well as develop and implement the strategy.

  The scope is split into two workstreams. The first covers strategy development, planning and an implementation framework, including an assessment of KPA’s current market position and performance.

  The resulting strategic options and roadmap will be developed into detailed functional plans, supported by key performance indicators, a risk framework and a monitoring plan.

  Under the second workstream, KPMG will set up and lead a strategic technical support office for 36 months. The office will provide KPA with strategic oversight, technical advisory services and integrated project management support.

  KPA operates Kuwait’s three main commercial ports: Shuwaikh Port, Shuaiba Port and Doha Port.

  In line with the New Kuwait Vision 2035 development strategy, KPA is transitioning its operations into high-efficiency smart ports by investing heavily in automated machinery, deeper navigational channels and significant berth capacity expansions.

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  Yasir Iqbal
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  Combined Group signs Kuwait upstream contract

  Administrator

  4 November 2026

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  Kuwait-headquartered Combined Group Contracting Company has signed a contract to repair and revamp production facilities in West Kuwait, according to a company statement.

  State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) awarded the contract, valued at KD9.7m ($31.4m).

  The contract has a five-year term.

  KOC issued the invitation to bid on 5 October 2025. The initial bid deadline was 4 January 2026, and a pre-tender meeting was scheduled for 4 November 2025.

  The contract award to Combined Group was approved on 13 September 2026.

  Kuwait’s oil and gas sector is currently in the midst of a major crisis, as disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have dramatically reduced exported crude oil volumes.

  The disruptions are the result of a regional war that started on 28 February when the US and Israel attacked Iran.

  The disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz are also creating significant challenges for oil and gas construction projects, which normally import equipment and materials through the waterway.

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  Wil Crisp
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  Qiddiya seeks interest for water infrastructure packages

  Administrator

  4 November 2026

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  Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) has issued an expression of interest for two water infrastructure packages at Qiddiya City, southwest of Riyadh.

  According to a source, the first package covers a wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 60,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

  The second package involves a wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 9,000 cm/d. It will also include a “sizeable” reverse osmosis (RO) facility, a source close to the project told MEED.

  The deadline for submissions of interest is 8 November.

  The infrastructure package will cater to Saudi Arabia’s 360-square-kilometre Qiddiya entertainment city.

  QIC, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), is overseeing the development of Qiddiya City, including its supporting utilities infrastructure.

  In October 2024, MEED reported exclusively that QIC planned to tender its utilities packages individually under an engineering, procurement and construction model.

  QIC had previously planned to procure the infrastructure through a public-private partnership (PPP). However, it cancelled this approach despite receiving two bids for a multi-utility package in 2020.

  The original utilities package covered power generation, water desalination, sewage treatment and water transmission networks.

  In September 2023, QIC signed infrastructure contracts worth SR2.29bn ($611m) with a joint venture of Saudi Real Estate Infrastructure Company (Binyah) and InfraRoad Contracting.

  The contracts covered a wider infrastructure package at Qiddiya’s Resort Core, including roads, utility networks, water storage facilities and pumping stations, as well as the construction of a sewage treatment plant (STP).

  Two other major PIF-backed developments, the Red Sea project and Amaala, have each awarded multi-utility packages using a PPP model, while contractors are preparing to bid for two separate wastewater treatment plants for Oxagon, Neom’s industrial cluster.

  In September, the utilities system serving Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea tourism destination reached commercial operation, marking the start of a 25-year concession for one of the world’s largest integrated off-grid utilities projects.

  The project, known as the Marafiq Red Sea Project or Red Sea Utilities Multi-Utilities Project, includes three seawater RO plants, an STP, a waste management centre and 32,500 refrigeration tonnes of district cooling capacity.

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  Mark Dowdall
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  Riyadh plans multibillion northern roads network overhaul

  Administrator

  4 November 2026

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  Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) is preparing to implement a 189-kilometre (km) programme of road upgrades and extensions in the north of the capital as part of a comprehensive restructuring of the capital’s northern transport infrastructure.

  The programme comprises 19 road projects and 33 interchanges serving the airport and 16 surrounding developments, including the Expo 2030 site, Roshn’s Sedra and Plot 1 communities and King Salman Stadium.

  Once complete, the upgraded network will have the capacity for 4.2 million daily trips.

  Fifteen of the links, totalling 162km, will be funded from the Riyadh City Strategy budget and procured across three waves and five packages.

  The remaining four links, covering 27km of roads within and around the airport campus, will be developed by King Salman International Airport (KSIA).

  Wave one

  Wave one is the most immediate phase, covering seven links totalling 49km around the airport terminals, Expo 2030 and Roshn’s developments. 

  Fast-tracked for design completion in August 2026, Wave 1 comprises critical primary conduits split across two packages: 

  Package 1: Covers 11km, comprising an initial 8km stretch of Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Road and the first extension phase of King Salman Road.

  RCRC has already begun implementing the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Road scheme, awarding multimillion-dollar contracts for the project this year.

  The centrepiece of this wave is the extension of King Salman Road, which will be realigned south along the boundary between KSIA and Roshn.

  The new road will have six main lanes and three service-road lanes in each direction, with three full interchanges where Airport Road, a Roshn Sedra link and Sheikh Jaber Road cross it on bridges.

  The interchanges will also give separate access to the airport support facilities and terminals, and are each forecast to handle 300,000-400,000 vehicles a day by 2040.

  Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Road will be upgraded along an 8km section and extended by a further 5km. Three grade-separated T-intersections will provide access to Roshn Sedra.

  The existing 6km section of King Salman Road will be widened to six main lanes in each direction, with tunnels beneath it at the Prince Saud Bin Jalawi interchange and between Expo 2030 and Roshn Plot 1.

  Package 2: Covers 28km of core alignment updates across King Salman Road, the Expo South link, Airport Road, Prince Badr Bin Abdulmohsen Road and Anas Bin Malik Road.

  A new 6km road south of the Expo site will extend Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Road through three grade-separated junctions, relieving King Salman Road of Expo and Roshn traffic.

  The 8km Airport Road upgrade will add five main lanes and four service-road lanes in each direction, an underpass interchange at Expo Road, a bridge linking Expo with Roshn Sedra and new elevated ramps serving Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University.

  Prince Badr Bin Abdulmohsen Bin Abdulaziz Road will be widened from three to four lanes in each direction for 5km, with an underpass to King Salman Stadium.

  A tunnel-and-bridge junction will carry it beneath the upgraded 3km Anas Bin Malik Road.

  Wave one also includes a main bridge over Riyadh Metro Line 4.

  Wave two

  Wave two comprises two further packages totalling 72km that extend the network west and south of the airport.

  Package 3: Covers 38km and includes the 33km upgrade of Al-Janadriyah Road, the longest single link in the programme, together with the 5km western section of Mohammed Bin Faraj Road. Its design submission is due in November 2026.

  Package 4: Covers 34km and comprises the extension of King Salman Road to Al-Janadriyah Road, the 10km upgrade of the Airport Extension Road serving the airport support functions and the 16km upgrade of Prince Saud Bin Abdullah Bin Jalawi Road.

  Design is scheduled for submission in March 2027.

  Wave three

  Wave three is a single 52km package covering the outer northern and eastern corridors. It comprises the 11km upgrade of Al-Thumamah Road, the 17km upgrade of Khuzam Road and the 19km extension of Jabal Azid Road, with design due for submission in August 2027.

  Alongside the RCRC-led schemes, KSIA will deliver four links totalling 27km on its own campus. These are the 10km upgrade of the Airport Extension Road adjacent to the terminals, a 6km upgrade of Mohammed Bin Faraj Road, a 5km road to the cargo and aviation services area and a 6km road to the Iconic Terminal.

  All three waves are scheduled to reach tender by 2028.

  Programme rationale

  Designed by Lebanon-headquartered engineering firm Dar Al-Handasah, Taiwan’s Wiecon Consulting Engineers and Germany’s Bodeker, the programme responds to the concentration of Riyadh’s flagship schemes on the city’s northern edge.

  Riyadh is planning major developments in the north, with most due for completion by 2030. Daily trips in the area are forecast to rise from about 775,000 today to 1.7 million by 2030 and 3.7 million by 2050.

  Roshn’s projects account for 37% of that demand, with Roshn Sedra alone generating more than 520,000 daily trips by 2030.

  The sequencing is driven by Riyadh’s event timetable. Wave one targets the links that unlock KSIA’s new terminals, the Expo 2030 site and King Salman Stadium, a venue for the 2034 Fifa World Cup.

  The later waves then build capacity for the housing, logistics and mixed-use districts expected to drive traffic growth after 2030, sustaining a pipeline of road contracts in the capital well into the next decade.

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Aramco Q3 profit rises 9% despite attacks on facilities

  Administrator

  3 November 2026

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  Saudi Aramco reported a 9% year-on-year increase in adjusted net income to $31.2bn in the third quarter of 2026, supported by stronger financial performance across its businesses, particularly downstream operations, and despite persistent attacks by the Yemen-based Houthi rebels on its facilities across the kingdom.

  The company’s revenue and other income from sales reached $140.492bn in Q3 2026, up from $111.509bn in the same period last year. 

  Downstream adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (ebit) increased by 234% year-on-year, reflecting stronger refining margins.

  Cash flow from operating activities increased to $38.7bn in Q3, compared to $36.1bn a year earlier, while free cash flow rose to $28.2bn from $23.6bn over the same period.

  The company maintained a gearing ratio of 5.5% at the end of the first nine months of the year, compared to 6.2% at the end of the first half of the year.

  Return on average capital employed in Q3 remained the same as in the previous quarter at 22.1%.

  Aramco’s capital expenditure in Q3 2026 declined to $10.52bn from $12.55bn in the same period last year, while capex in the first nine months of the year stood at $35.78bn.

  Commenting on the Q3 financial results, Aramco’s president and CEO, Amin H Nasser, said: “Geopolitical uncertainty and attacks on key energy facilities continued to amplify the global energy supply crisis in the third quarter of 2026, with serious implications for global energy security.

  “Despite challenges, the unwavering dedication of our workforce, our operational excellence, the flexibility of our system and the strength of a supply network built over decades enabled us to continue delivering reliably to our customers through this extraordinary period.

  “We continue to explore additional overseas storage capacity and alternative export routes to further strengthen our global supply network, and our robust operational and financial performance during this volatile period demonstrates the value of our resilience.

  “Backed by our strong balance sheet, we remain focused on the disciplined execution of priority projects and on leveraging advanced technologies to enhance performance and unlock new opportunities. This is how we will continue to meet the world’s evolving energy needs and deliver value for our shareholders and customers.”

  ALSO READ: Sabic swings back to profit in Q3 with $224m net income

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  Indrajit Sen
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  UAE monitors desalination plants after oil spill

  Administrator

  3 November 2026

  State utility Etihad Water & Electricity (EtihadWE) says it is monitoring seawater quality at desalination plant intake points following an oil spill off the UAE's northern coast.

  In a statement, the utility said it is continuing to "implement proactive measures to safeguard the water production system" following the spread of an oil slick towards coastal areas in the emirates of Umm Al-Quwain, Ras Al-Khaimah, Ajman and Sharjah.

  The spill involved the tanker Gem No. 2, which was struck by a projectile in UAE territorial waters on 9 October. The resulting oil pollution has raised concerns over potential contamination of seawater used by desalination plants along the northern coast.

  EtihadWE said its measures include continuous monitoring of seawater quality at plant intake points, regular testing of produced and distributed water, and verification of compliance with approved standards before water enters the distribution network.

  The utility added that the precautionary measures will not affect the continuity of water supplies to consumers in the Northern Emirates.

  In an earlier update on 30 October, the Climate Change & Environment Ministry said the oil slick was concentrated off the coast of Umm Al-Quwain, extending partially towards coastal areas in Ras Al-Khaimah, Ajman and Sharjah.

  The ministry said the concentration of pollution had declined significantly and that the leak had been stopped at source. However, surveying, monitoring and clean-up operations are continuing in affected coastal areas.

  The Energy & Infrastructure Ministry said specialised technical teams are continuing work to address technical issues with the tanker, including repairing damaged sections, restoring operational systems and assessing the integrity of its structure.

  The proximity of the oil slick to the Naqa'a desalination plant in Umm Al-Quwain has drawn particular attention. According to media reports, the slick approached to within approximately 2 kilometres of the facility.

  Naqa'a has a production capacity of 150 million imperial gallons a day, equivalent to approximately 682,000 cubic metres a day. The plant supplies water to the Northern Emirates and has been operational since 2022.

  It is owned by Naqa'a Desalination Plant, a special-purpose vehicle established by Mubadala, Acwa and the former Federal Electricity & Water Authority, now known as EtihadWE.

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  Mark Dowdall
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  Oman signs 1GW battery storage agreement

  Administrator

  3 November 2026

  Oman's Nama Holding, a subsidiary of Oman Investment Authority (OIA), has signed a framework agreement with China's State Grid International Development to develop battery energy storage systems (bess) with a targeted capacity of 1GW.

  The agreement covers two battery storage systems, each with a capacity of 500MW, at Duqm Industrial Station and Al-Subaikhi (Ibri Solar 3) Station.

  It is understood that both systems will operate at 400kV and connect to Oman's national electricity transmission grid.

  The deal is part of a package of economic and investment agreements signed by OIA with Chinese institutions and companies during the Oman-China conference on 2 November. OIA put the combined value of the bess projects at approximately RO384.5m ($1bn).

  The agreement comes as Oman advances plans to expand its renewable energy capacity and strengthen the electricity transmission network.

  Nama Power & Water Procurement Company is also procuring a separate 950MW standalone bess programme comprising five facilities in the sultanate, as MEED exclusively reported.

  The wider package of agreements, signed during Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq's state visit to China, covers sectors including renewable energy, mining, logistics, digital transformation and space technology.

  In the wind energy sector, Oman's O-Green and Shanghai Electric Wind Power signed a strategic partnership to establish a joint research and development centre and wind turbine testing facility at the Mawarid turbine factory in Duqm.

  The partnership will focus on adapting turbine technologies to Gulf climate conditions, supporting local manufacturing and developing green ammonia projects in Oman.

  The partnership is valued at RO3.85m-RO7.69m ($10m-$20m). It also identifies potential future contracts exceeding $1bn, alongside green ammonia projects and initial investment commitments in Oman exceeding $200m.

  In solar, OIA signed a preliminary term sheet with Chinese firms PCG Power and Hoymiles for a partnership valued at RO38.45m ($100m).

  The partnership aims to develop solar energy projects in Oman and establish a solar inverter manufacturing facility serving markets in the Middle East and North Africa.

  It is also intended to support the localisation of solar-related industries, expand domestic production and develop export markets.

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  Mark Dowdall
• 
  Consultants bid for Roshn’s north Riyadh scheme

  Administrator

  3 November 2026

  

   

  Saudi gigaproject developer Roshn Group has received proposals from lead design consultants for its planned flagship development in north Riyadh.

  Consultants submitted proposals on 1 November for detailed design, tender documentation and construction documents for the project’s first plot.

  The planned development covers 13.7 square kilometres and will be a residential-led mixed-use scheme containing retail, office, hospitality, education and civic facilities.

  The consultancy scope for plot one includes infrastructure, utilities, public-realm works and the site adaptation of Roshn’s residential prototypes. It has been divided into two work packages.

  The first package covers phases A, B and E, which cover about 7.8 million square metres (sq m) and will include 17,000 units.

  The second package covers phases C and D, covering about 4.7 million sq m and with more than 15,000 units.

  The site is bordered by the Expo 2030 site, King Abdulaziz Park, the Sports Innovation Lab Zone and National Housing Company’s Khozam development.

  Transport connectivity is a key element of the masterplan. Two metro stations are planned, including a station at the interchange between the existing Line 4 and planned Line 7, and a dedicated Line 7 station. The development could also be served by the planned Qiddiya high-speed rail link and a potential diversion of King Salman Road.

  The scheme will add to Roshn’s existing development pipeline in Riyadh, which includes the multi-phase Sedra community. The developer is expanding its focus from single-family housing to larger mixed-use districts under its Roshn 3.0 strategy.

  Last month, Roshn signed a preliminary agreement with TMG Saudi, the local subsidiary of Egypt’s Talaat Moustafa Group, to establish a joint venture to explore a separate mixed-use project in Riyadh.

  TMG Saudi will hold a 51% stake in the proposed joint venture and Roshn will hold the remaining 49%. The companies said they will undertake detailed masterplanning and prepare a business case for the project, which preliminary studies indicate could include more than 55,000 residential units.

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  Yasir Iqbal