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  Iraq sets up commission for $5bn pipeline project

  30 April 2026

  Iraq is setting up a high-level commission to oversee the development of the planned $5bn Basra-Haditha crude oil pipeline project.

  The decision was made at a meeting held on 26 April, attended by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and the Minister of Petroleum Hayyan Abdul Ghani Al-Sawad, as well as other officials and consultants.

  The commission will be chaired by the undersecretary of the Oil Ministry and include advisers to the prime minister, along with director-generals from the Oil Ministry and the Industry & Minerals Ministry.

  Al-Sudani said the pipeline project will increase flexibility in transporting crude oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, as well as the Syrian port of Baniyas and Jordan’s port of Aqaba.

  The pipeline is also expected to strengthen supply to refineries in central and northern Iraq and support higher domestic refining output.

  The meeting also approved allocating $1.5bn to the project this year, with funding provided through the Iraq-China oil-for-infrastructure mechanism, according to a statement issued by the Petroleum Ministry.

  Earlier this month, Iraq’s Council of Ministers approved amendments allowing the Oil Ministry to directly invite specialised companies to bid for the 685-kilometre pipeline.

  The pipeline is expected to have a capacity of up to 2.25 million barrels a day.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16621546/main.jpg

  Wil Crisp
• 
  Bahrain extends bid deadline for 1.2GW Sitra IWPP

  30 April 2026

  

   

  Bahrain’s Electricity & Water Authority (EWA) has extended the developer bidding deadline for the Sitra independent water and power plant (IWPP).

  The new deadline is 17 May. 

  The Sitra IWPP is a combined-cycle gas turbine plant expected to have a generation capacity of about 1,200MW of electricity.

  The project’s seawater reverse osmosis desalination facility will have a production capacity of 30 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

  It is the second deadline extension on the main works package since the tender was released in August 2025.

  Lebanon-headquartered Khatib & Alami was recently awarded a consulting contract for the project, worth $1.91m. This was despite the consultancy submitting only the third-lowest bid behind Spain’s Ayesa ($1.25m) and WSP Middle East Architectural & Engineering ($1.27m).

  EWA’s transaction advisory team for the project comprises KPMG Fakhro as the financial consultant and Trowers & Hamlins as the legal consultant.

  MEED previously reported that seven international companies and consortiums had prequalified to bid. These are:

  • Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa, UAE)
  • Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia)
  • China Energy Engineering Corporation / China Datang (Overseas Hong Kong, China)
  • Gulf Investment Corporation (Kuwait)
  • Jera (Japan)
  • Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco, South Korea)
  • Sumitomo Corporation (Japan)

  EWA first received statements of qualifications from nine interested firms in December 2024.

  The build-own-operate (BOO) project is being procured under a public-private partnership framework for 20-25 years.

  It is Bahrain’s fourth IWPP, replacing the previously planned Al-Dur 3. The Sitra IWPP is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2029.

  The project is in line with EWA’s plan to replace old plants with new, more efficient ones that reduce natural gas consumption.

  Procurement for the Sitra IWPP is advancing in parallel to other EWA initiatives, including the planned 60MIGD Al-Hidd independent water plant (IWP), for which two bids were submitted earlier this year.

  The contract to develop and operate the state’s first IWP remains under bid evaluation, a source said.

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  Mark Dowdall
• 
  Bidders get more time for Jebel Ali sewage EPC contract

  29 April 2026

  

   

  Dubai Municipality has extended the deadline for contractors to submit bids for a contract covering the expansion of the Jebel Ali sewage treatment plant (STP) phases one and two.

  Contractors now have until June to submit offers, a source told MEED. Bidding had been expected to close on 30 April.

  The upgraded facility will be capable of treating an additional sewage flow of 100,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), with the expansion estimated to cost $300m.

  The scope includes the design, construction and commissioning of infrastructure and systems required to support the increased capacity.

  Located on a 670-hectare site in Jebel Ali, the original wastewater facility has a treatment capacity of about 675,000 cm/d following the completion of phase two in 2019, combining approximately 300,000 cm/d from phase one and 375,000 cm/d from phase two.

  The main element of the expansion involves modifications to the secondary treatment process at Jebel Ali STP phase two.

  UK-headquartered KPMG and UAE-based Tribe Infrastructure are serving as financial advisers on the project.

  Future expansion

  It is understood that the project is part of long-term plans to treat about 1.05 million cm/d once all future phases are completed.

  According to sources, this includes a Jebel Ali-based build-operate-transfer (BOT) project to be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

  It is understood that the prequalification process for this will begin in the coming months.

  In February, MEED exclusively revealed that the municipality is preparing to tender the main construction package for the Warsan STP by the end of the year.

  As MEED understands, the Warsan STP had previously been planned as a PPP project.

  The main package will now be procured as an engineering, procurement and construction contract, a source said.

  The project involves the construction of a sewage treatment plant with a capacity of about 175,000 cm/d, including treatment units, sludge handling systems and associated infrastructure.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16608027/main.jpg

  Mark Dowdall
• 
  UAE’s departure from Opec marks a tectonic shift

  29 April 2026

  Commentary
  Indrajit Sen
  Oil & gas editor

  Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

  The UAE’s decision to leave Opec and the Opec+ grouping marks a significant turning point in global oil markets and highlights shifting geopolitical dynamics and evolving supply expectations.

  The UAE announced it will leave the producer alliance effective 1 May, ending nearly six decades of membership. The move reflects a broader strategic shift, as the country seeks greater flexibility over its production policy amid rising capacity and changing market conditions.

  For oil markets, this is about more than one country wanting to pump more oil. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has spent billions of dollars over the years to raise crude production capacity to 5 million barrels a day.

  Opec+ quotas had increasingly looked as though they were stifling Abu Dhabi’s growing desire to maximise revenues by tapping into its expanded spare capacity. Leaving the Opec+ coalition gives Abu Dhabi more room to monetise those investments.

  The timing also matters. It comes against a backdrop of regional security concerns, tensions around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, and a sense that consumers are once again being squeezed by high energy costs and depleted strategic reserves. 

  The immediate dip in the price of global benchmark Brent crude following the announcement of the UAE’s decision on 28 April showed the market’s first instinct: more UAE barrels could mean more supply and lower prices. However, the price rebound on 29 April, with Brent trading around $111 a barrel, also tells the other half of the story: extra capacity does not instantly become risk-free supply when regional bottlenecks and security threats remain front and centre.

  For Opec+, this is a blow to unity and to Saudi Arabia’s ability to marshal producer discipline. It does not mean that a price war will start tomorrow, but it raises the risk of other member states choosing to abandon the alliance’s cooperation mechanism and pursue a higher market share. In trading terms, this adds a new volatility premium: more potential supply, less cartel discipline and a Gulf energy landscape that looks significantly less predictable.

  The announcement comes at a time of heightened uncertainty in global energy markets, with geopolitical tensions, supply chain constraints and demand recovery trends all contributing to price volatility. The UAE’s exit is expected to reshape market expectations around supply flexibility and producer coordination.

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Kuwait Oil Company prepares to sign flowline contract

  29 April 2026

  

   

  State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is preparing to sign a contract worth KD174.2m ($565m) with Kuwait-based Heavy Engineering Industries & Shipbuilding Company (Heisco), according to industry sources.

  The contract is focused on developing flowlines and associated works in North Kuwait.

  One source said: “The contract is expected to be signed soon and everything associated with the contract award process is moving very smoothly.”

  Heisco announced in a stock exchange statement earlier this month that it had received a formal contract award letter for the project.

  While progress on the project is moving smoothly for now, the project may be impacted by fallout from the US and Israel’s war with Iran in the future.

  The project requires a large volume of pipelines to be transported into Kuwait, which would normally be shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

  Heisco was the fourth-lowest bidder for the contract.

  Also this month, Heisco submitted the lowest bid for a project to upgrade part of the Mina Abdullah refinery’s export infrastructure.

  It submitted a bid of KD11,919,652 ($38.6m) for the project to implement renovation works on the artificial island that forms part of the port at the refinery.

  The only other bidder was Kuwait’s International Marine Construction Company (IMCC), which submitted a bid of KD12,480,113 ($40.4m).

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16599814/main.png

  Wil Crisp