Algeria’s industrial strategy builds momentum
8 July 2025
Project activity across Algeria’s energy, industrial and manufacturing sectors is steadily building as the country focuses on a vertically integrated strategy that leverages the exploitation of its natural resources.
The country is making steady progress on projects to extract deposits of gas, lithium, iron and phosphates.
At the same time, it is progressing projects that use these natural resources to produce high-value products within the country, rather than simply exporting the raw materials.
The projects utilising raw materials within Algeria include a wide range of iron and steel processing facilities, fertiliser plants and factories to produce cars.
Upstream gas
Last month, Algeria awarded five out of the six oil and gas exploration licences it offered during its 2024 bidding round, a move viewed as a success by stakeholders in the country’s energy sector.
The companies that were awarded blocks included France’s TotalEnergies, state-owned QatarEnergy, Italy’s Eni and PTTEP of Thailand.
Commenting on the licensing round, one industry source said: “Successfully engaging with large international oil companies that have significant technical and financial resources is a big step forward for Algeria’s oil and gas sector.”
The latest bid round was the first to be held under Law 13-19, Algeria’s current oil and gas investment law, which was issued on 11 December 2019.
The 2019 law replaced a previous law created in 2005, which governed the last bid round in 2014.
During the previous bid round, only four blocks were awarded out of the 31 offered.
If the 2024 bidding round had been unsuccessful like the 2014 bidding round, this would have been a major setback to the country’s oil and gas strategy and raised significant concerns about the suitability of the 2019 law that governs licensing deals.
The latest licensing round was followed by meetings between Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and delegations from US-based oil and gas companies ExxonMobil and Chevron.
Awarding the licences and holding talks with Exxon and Chevron sets the scene for further upstream development projects in Algeria and will potentially boost domestic gas production in the country.
Successfully engaging with large international oil companies that have significant technical and financial resources is a big step forward for Algeria’s oil and gas sector
Industry source
Phosphates push
Extractive projects in Algeria’s mining sector are also making steady progress.
One of the biggest mining projects in the country is the Bled El-Hadba phosphate project, which is estimated to be worth $7bn.
The Bled El-Hadba phosphate mine has over 1.2 billion tonnes of estimated total reserves, including 800 million tonnes of estimated exploitable reserves, making it one of the biggest mines of its kind in the world.
A joint venture deal to develop the project was signed in March 2022 between four Algerian and Chinese companies.
The resulting joint-stock company is called Algerian Chinese Fertilisers Company (ACFC) and the project is expected to ultimately produce 5.4 million tonnes of fertilisers a year from the Bled El-Hadba phosphate mine in the eastern Algerian region of Tebessa.
ACFC was established by the Algerian companies Asmidal and Manadjim El-Djazair (Manal), which own a 56% stake in the company, and the Chinese groups Wuhuan and Tianan, which hold the remaining 44% stake.
Since the deal was signed, the project has seen good progress.
Last month, Saipem was awarded the front-end engineering and design (feed) contract related to the project.
Additionally, the Oued Keberit phosphate production and processing complex, which forms part of the $7bn project and will process phosphates extracted from the mine, is on track to come online in 2027, according to industry sources.
Iron mining
Another key mining project in the country is the Gara Djebilet iron ore mine in Algeria’s western Tindouf province.
The Gara Djebilet mine was commissioned in July 2022, with plans to produce 2 million tonnes a year (t/y) by 2026.
Officials have said they want to boost this to 50 million tonnes of iron ore annually by 2040.
It is expected that boosting production at the facility could require between $7bn and $10bn in investment.
Gara Djebilet is understood to hold the world’s largest iron ore reserves, with an estimated 3.5 billion tonnes at the location, of which around 1.7 billion tonnes are available for exploitation.
The mine is expected to bolster Algeria’s steel industry by reducing the need for iron imports.
Car manufacturing
Low-cost steel is expected to support the country’s expanding automotive sector, which uses steel to produce parts.
In March 2025, Great Wall Motor, one of China’s top 10 car manufacturers, announced plans to build its first factory in Algeria, joining other companies in the country, including Fiat, Peugeot and Kia.
Last November, the Algerian Ministry of Industry & Pharmaceutical Production announced that it had granted permits for six new vehicle manufacturing factories in the country.
In March 2023, the carmaker Stellantis announced plans to spend more than €200m ($213m) to manufacture several Fiat models in Algeria.
The plans involved the construction of a plant, which is yet to come online.
Stellantis stated that it anticipates the plant will generate nearly 2,000 local jobs and have an annual production capacity of 90,000 vehicles upon completion.
Petrochemicals production
Algeria’s growing automotive industry is also expected to use plastics derived from petrochemicals that are produced in the country using Algerian natural gas as a feedstock.
UK-based engineering contractor Petrofac and its partner China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering Corporation (HQCEC) are currently executing a petrochemicals project in Algeria, which is valued at approximately $1.5bn.
Petrofac and HQCEC signed the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Algerian petrochemicals project in June 2023.
The project is being developed in the Arzew Industrial Zone to the west of Algiers and the contract was signed with STEP Polymers, a wholly owned subsidiary of Algeria’s state-owned oil and gas company Sonatrach.
When the contract was signed, Petrofac said that its portion of the project was valued at about $1bn.
The project’s scope includes designing and building two major integrated processing units.
It includes the delivery of a new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit and polypropylene production unit, as well as associated utilities and infrastructure for the site.
It is expected to produce 550,000 tonnes of polypropylene a year.
Additionally, plans are being developed for zinc production projects in the country.
In November last year, Western Mediterranean Zinc (WMZ), an Algerian-Australian joint venture, signed a $336m contract with Sinosteel Equipment & Engineering Company (Sinosteel MECC) to develop the Tala Hamza zinc project in Algeria’s Bejaia Province.
WMZ is a joint venture of Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed Terramin, which has a 49% stake, and Algerian state-owned companies Enterprise Nationale des Produits Miniers Non-Ferreux et des Substances Utiles, which owns 48.5%, and Office National de Recherche Geologique et Miniere, which owns 2.5%.
The project scope included the development of a mine with the capacity to produce two million tonnes a year of zinc and a processing plant with the capacity to process the same volume of material.
It is expected that the production of zinc will support the country’s battery manufacturing industry, which in turn will support the production of electric cars.
Fertiliser focus
The country’s fertiliser sector is expected to expand as phosphate production is ramped up.
Earlier this month, MEED revealed that Sonatrach was developing a project that will expand the country’s fertiliser plant located in Arzew.
Sonatrach has not publicly said when it expects to issue the invitation to bid for the main contract for the project.
The original $2.4bn contract to develop the Arzew fertiliser complex was executed by a joint venture of South Korea’s Daewoo E&C and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation.
The joint venture won the contract in April 2008 and completed the facility in April 2013.
Steady development
By making steady progress with an integrated strategy that leverages the exploitation of raw materials to support the production of higher-value exports, Algeria is creating an industrial environment that presents significant opportunities for companies across multiple sectors.
If the country’s relative political stability continues, more foreign investors will likely become involved in projects within the country, and the country’s project market will continue to expand.
MEED’s August 2025 report on the Maghreb also includes:
> ECONOMY: Maghreb economies battle trading headwinds
> POWER & WATER: Slow year for Maghreb power and water awards
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Contractor progresses with Qatar LNG decarbonisation project30 October 2025
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Kuwait Oil Company seeks approval to increase budgets30 October 2025
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Contractor progresses with Qatar LNG decarbonisation project
30 October 2025
Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works are progressing on an estimated $2bn to $2.5bn carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration complex project of QatarEnergy LNG covering its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production operations in Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC).
Once commissioned, the planned sequestration facility will be capable of capturing 4.3 million tonnes a year (t/y) of CO2 from QatarEnergy LNG’s production operations in RLIC.
QatarEnergy LNG, a subsidiary of state enterprise QatarEnergy, awarded the main EPC contract for the CO2 sequestration project to South Korean contractor Samsung C&T, sources told MEED.
The letter of award for the EPC contract was issued by QatarEnergy LNG to Samsung C&T on 27 May, according to a source.
The following contractors are among those that are understood to have submitted bids in April for EPC works on the QatarEnergy LNG CO2 sequestration project:
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Based on the initial evaluation of bids, Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon is understood to have pulled ahead in the race for the project’s contract, MEED previously reported. However, sources, at the time, added that the situation could change.
QatarEnergy LNG awarded Australia-headquartered consultancy Worley a contract in September 2023 to execute the front-end engineering and design (feed) work on the project and to prepare the EPC scope of work.
CO2 sequestration facility
The planned sequestration facility will capture CO2 from seven LNG trains at the QG North complex and three LNG trains at the QG South complex.
The CO2 captured from the trains is to be dehydrated, compressed and transferred via a new 154-kilometre pipeline, to be injected into wells at the Dukhan oil field development onshore Qatar for a related enhanced oil recovery pilot scheme.
The pilot project is part of QatarEnergy’s long-term strategy for the redevelopment of the Dukhan fields that will contribute to the recovery of additional crude.
The detailed EPC scope of work on the CO2 sequestration project covers the following:
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- Installation of four new electric-driven compressors
- New power substation for power import from Kahramaa 65MW
- New ITR for DCS/ESD/F&G
- Tie-ins with utility units
- Dehydration package
- Pig launcher
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- Installation of two new electric-driven compressors
- Integration with South injection system unit 85
- Solvent reformulation for South trains 1/23
- New power substation for power import from Kahramaa 35MW
- New SIH for DCS/ESD/F&G
- Tie-ins with utility units
- Dehydration package
- Chillers package
- Pig launcher
- RLIC corridors
- Common 22-inch export pipeline stretching 18 kilometres
- Power tie-in RLF3 with Kahramaa
- Electric cables
- Fiber optic cable
- Lot W15
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The CO2 sequestration complex in RLIC is expected to start operations by the end of 2027.
North Field LNG expansion
Meanwhile, QatarEnergy LNG continues to press forward with its North Field LNG expansion programme.
The estimated $40bn North Field LNG expansion programme aims to raise Qatar’s total LNG production capacity from 77.5 million t/y to 142 million t/y in three phases.
QatarEnergy is understood to have spent almost $30bn on the two phases of the North Field LNG expansion programme, North Field East and North Field South, which will increase its LNG production capacity from 77.5 million t/y to 126 million t/y by 2028.
EPC works on the two projects are making progress.
QatarEnergy awarded the main EPC contracts in 2021 for the North Field East project, which is projected to increase LNG output to 110 million t/y by this year. The main $13bn EPC package, which covers the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of four LNG trains with capacities of 8 million t/y each, was awarded to a consortium of Japan’s Chiyoda Corporation and France’s Technip Energies in February 2021.
QatarEnergy awarded the main EPC contract for the North Field South LNG project, worth $10bn, in May 2023. The contract covers two large LNG processing trains, each with a capacity of 7.8 million t/y, and was awarded to a consortium of Technip Energies and Lebanon-based Consolidated Contractors Company.
When fully commissioned, the first two phases of the North Field LNG expansion programme will contribute a total supply capacity of 48 million t/y to the global LNG market.
In February 2024, QatarEnergy announced the third phase of its North Field LNG expansion programme. To be called North Field West, the project will further increase QatarEnergy’s LNG production capacity to 142 million t/y when it is commissioned by 2030.
The North Field West project will have an LNG production capacity of 16 million t/y, which is expected to be achieved through two 8 million t/y LNG processing trains, based on the two earlier phases of QatarEnergy’s LNG expansion programme. The new project will draw feedstock for LNG production from the western zone of Qatar’s North Field offshore gas reserve.
The state enterprise recently started a prequalification process for the main tendering exercise for dredging works on the North Field West project.
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New Murabba signs up consultants for project delivery
30 October 2025
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Saudi Arabia’s New Murabba Development Company (NMDC) has signed agreements with three US-based engineering firms to undertake design works on various assets at the New Murabba downtown project in Riyadh.
The client signed an agreement with New York-headquartered firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) to lead early design works for the first residential community within the New Murabba development.
The other agreements were signed with Aecom and Jacobs, who have been appointed as the lead design consultants for the Mukaab district.
The latest agreements build on NMDC’s August signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with another US-based firm, Falcons Creative Group, to develop the creative vision and immersive experiences for the Mukaab project at the New Murabba development.
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This followed NMDC’s signing of an MoU with South Korea’s Heerim Architects & Planners in July to explore additional design work for assets within the 14-square-kilometre New Murabba downtown project.
In July, NMDC signed an MoU with another South Korean firm, Naver Cloud Corporation, to explore technological solutions for delivering the New Murabba downtown project.
Also in July, NMDC announced the completion of excavation works for the Mukaab, the centrepiece of the overall development.
Downtown destination
The New Murabba destination will have a total floor area of more than 25 million sq m and will feature more than 104,000 residential units, 9,000 hotel rooms and over 980,000 sq m of retail space.
The scheme will include 1.4 million sq m of office space, 620,000 sq m of leisure facilities and 1.8 million sq m of space dedicated to community facilities.
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The living, working and entertainment facilities will be developed within a 15-minute walking radius. The area will use an internal transport system and will be about a 20-minute drive from the airport.
The downtown area will feature a museum; a technology and design university; an immersive, multipurpose theatre; and more than 80 entertainment and cultural venues.
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Read the November 2025 MEED Business Review
30 October 2025
Download / Subscribe / 14-day trial access The GCC is projected to add at least 80 million tonnes a year (t/y) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity by 2030, placing it firmly among the world’s top three producing regions.
With soaring global demand for the super-chilled fuel, and regional producers committing tens of billions of dollars to significantly ramp up output, MEED’s latest issue focuses on the outlook for the Gulf’s LNG sector as it enters a new, prolific phase. Beyond the Gulf, MEED finds other regional countries also investing in building LNG import infrastructure, driven by a need to increase the share of gas in their energy mixes.
This month’s market focus covers the UAE, where physical and digital infrastructure projects are building a connected economy of the future. The UAE is demonstrating, once again, that strategic investment remains the cornerstone of its national progress.
MEED’s latest issue also includes a report on the Gulf's project finance market, which is continuing to attract strong interest from local and international lenders. Iraq, meanwhile, is revealed as the leader in non-GCC project finance activity.
This issue is bursting with analysis. The team looks at Abu Dhabi’s latest move to position itself at the forefront of the global transition to low-carbon heavy industry; examines the way in which Riyadh-based Digital Cooperation Organisation is using data to define and measure the digital economy; and asks if Saudi Arabia’s housing boom is leaving its citizens behind.
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We hope our valued subscribers enjoy the November 2025 issue of MEED Business Review.
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> Mena LNG infrastructure spending risesINDUSTRY REPORT:
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> Iraq leads non-GCC project finance activity> PPPs: NCP showcases private sector project opportunities in Saudi Arabia
> GREEN STEEL: Abu Dhabi takes the lead in green steel transition
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> DATABANK: UAE growth exceeds predictions> MEED COMMENTS:
> Neom omitted from Saudi pre-budget statement
> Qiddiya high-speed rail PPP is a bold but risky move
> Wood leadership change holds promise for future
> Power market reshapes contractor landscape> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects market leaders return to fore
> SEPTEMBER 2025 CONTRACTS: Qatar leads awards as regional activity slows
> ECONOMIC DATA: October 2025: Data drives regional projects
> OPINION: Peace mission impossible
> BUSINESS OUTLOOK: Finance, oil and gas, construction, power and water contracts
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Contractors submit UAE high-speed rail bids
30 October 2025
The UAE’s Etihad Rail received bids on 29 October from contractors for the tender to design and build the civil works and station packages for the high-speed railway (HSR) line connecting Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Earlier in October, MEED exclusively reported that contractors were forming joint ventures to bid for upcoming design-and-build work packages for the UAE’s high-speed railway project.
MEED understands that the group formations for the civil works packages are as follows:
- Limak / Dogus / Ozkar (Turkiye) – Dubai section
- NPC / Trojan Tunnelling / Kalyon / China State (UAE/UAE/Turkiye/China) – Dubai and Abu Dhabi section
- WeBuild / Tristar (Italy/UAE) – Abu Dhabi section
- L&T / China Harbour / Hilalco / Wade Adams (India/China/local/local) – Dubai and Abu Dhabi
- China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (China) – Dubai and Abu Dhabi
- China Railway Engineering Corporation (China) – Dubai section
- China Railway Engineering Corporation / WBG (China/local) – Abu Dhabi
French engineering firm Systra is the designer for the Limak-led consortium.
US-based Jacobs is the designer for the NPC group.
A joint venture of Systra and US-based Aecom is the designer for the WeBuild group.
French engineering firm Egis and Singapore’s Surbana Jurong are the designers for the L&T-led consortium.
Switzerland’s ARX is working with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation as its designer.
Chinese firm China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group is working with China Railway Engineering Corporation as its lead designer for both sections of the project.
Teams are also forming for the systems package. These are:
- Siemens / Rowad / Salcef (Germany/Egypt/Italy)
- Hitachi / Orascom (Japan/Egypt)
- Alstom / L&T (France/India)
- CRRC (China)
- Hyundai Rotem / Posco (South Korea)
- Talgo / Hassan Allam (Spain/Egypt)
- CAF (Spain)
The design speed of the trains running on the UAE’s HSR network will be 350 kilometres an hour (km/h) and the operating speed will be 320km/h, as MEED reported last year.
The proposed HSR programme will be constructed in four phases, gradually adding further connectivity to other areas within the UAE.
The first phase involves constructing a railway line connecting Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which is expected to be operational by 2030.
The second phase will develop an inner‑city railway network with 10 stations within the city of Abu Dhabi.
The third phase of the railway network involves constructing a connection between Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain.
The fourth phase involves developing an inter-emirate connection between Dubai and Sharjah.
The 150km first phase of the HSR will stretch from the Al-Zahiyah area of Abu Dhabi to Al-Jaddaf in Dubai.
The project’s civil works have been split into two packages – Abu Dhabi and Dubai – comprising four sections. The scope of these sections includes:
- Phase 1A: Al-Zahiyah to Yas Island (23.5km)
- Phase 1B: Yas Island to the border of Abu Dhabi/Dubai (64.2km)
- Phase 1C: Abu Dhabi/Dubai border to Al-Jaddaf (52.1km)
- Phase 1D: Abu Dhabi airport delta junction and connection with Abu Dhabi airport station (9.2km)
The rail line will have five stations: Al-Zahiyah (ADT), Saadiyat Island (ADS), Yas Island (YAS), Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) and Al-Jaddaf (DJD).
The ADT, AUH and DJD stations will be underground, while ADS will be elevated and YAS will be at grade.
The overall construction package also includes provisions for rolling stock, railway systems and two maintenance depots.
The high-speed project will slash journey times between the UAE’s two largest cities and economic centres. The journey time between the YAS and DJD stations will be 30 minutes.
Preliminary site testing works have begun. Dubai-based Matcon Testing Laboratory and Abu Dhabi’s Engineering & Research International are conducting drilling tests to ascertain the ground conditions in areas through which the HSR will pass.
Spanish engineering firms Sener and Ineco are the project’s engineering consultants.
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Kuwait Oil Company seeks approval to increase budgets
30 October 2025
State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is seeking approval from Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) to increase budgets for key projects, according to industry sources.
Approvals are currently being sought for three upstream projects, which saw bids submitted significantly over budget.
The first project, with a low bid of $2.47bn, involves the development of two facilities: Separation Gathering Centre 1 (SGC-1) and Water Injection Plant 1 (WIP-1).
The second project, with a low bid of $2.48bn, focuses on developing SGC‑3 and WIP‑3.
The third project, which involves the development of effluent water disposal plants for injector wells, had a low bid of $1.3bn.
If approval is given by KPC, then final approval will be sought from the country’s Ministry of Finance, industry sources said.
Already cancelled
One Kuwaiti oil project tender that received bids significantly above budget has already been cancelled.
On 7 October, MEED reported that the tender for the SGC-2 oil project – focused on the installation of a separation gathering centre – was cancelled by Kuwait’s Central Agency for Public Tenders.
In May, MEED reported that UK-based engineering firm Petrofac submitted a bid more than double the project’s proposed budget.
Petrofac’s bid was KD422.45m ($1.37bn), while the provisional budget stood at KD207m ($670.2m).
This contract is expected to be retendered, but there is significant uncertainty over when a new invitation to bid will be issued and how the scope may be changed.
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