Adnoc sees project spending uptick
25 April 2024
The latest news from the UAE's upstream sector includes:
> Contractor orders compressors for Adnoc project
> Adnoc Offshore awards Upper Zakum contract
> Contractors prepare bids for Lower Zakum oil project
> Adnoc Onshore awards contracts for well tie-ins packages
> Adnoc Onshore evaluates prices for fields upgrade
> Kent wins framework agreement with BP
> Dubai-based company wins Egypt oil contract extension
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) spent close to $22bn last year on upstream projects, making it one of the best years on record for oil and gas project capital expenditure (capex) in the UAE, if not the top.
Adnoc and its partners in the Ghasha concession dominated spending in 2023, awarding contracts worth $16.94bn in early October for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on the Hail and Ghasha sour gas production project.
The investment represents the largest-ever capex on a single oil and gas project in the UAE. It marks a giant leap for the country in its goal to become self-sufficient in natural gas production. As such, the project investment is also having a galvanising, trickle-down effect on the UAE oil and gas supply chain.
The Hail and Ghasha fields are part of Abu Dhabi’s Ghasha concession, which is expected to produce more than 1.5 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas before the end of this decade.
Adnoc holds the majority 55% stake in the Ghasha concession. The other stakeholders are Italian energy major Eni with 25%, Germany’s Wintershall Dea with 10%, and Austria’s OMV and Russia’s Lukoil, each with 5%.
A consortium of Abu Dhabi’s NMDC Energy and Italian contractor Saipem was awarded the project’s offshore EPC package. Its value is $8.2bn, with Saipem declaring its share to be worth $4.1bn.
The scope of work broadly involves the EPC of offshore facilities, including facilities on artificial islands and subsea pipelines.
Italy-headquartered Tecnimont was awarded the onshore EPC contract. The $8.74bn contract relates to the EPC of onshore facilities, including carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulphur recovery and handling.
Robust spending
Adnoc is expected to maintain robust spending on upstream projects this year, if not match the 2023 level, as it strives to achieve its oil and gas production targets. The Abu Dhabi energy giant aims to attain an oil production capacity of 5 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2027 and become self-sufficient in gas production by the end of this decade.
Adnoc is understood to have already spent more than $2.3bn so far this year on projects deemed vital to reaching its crude production goal.
Adnoc Group subsidiary Adnoc Offshore awarded the main EPC contract in mid-March for a project to increase the oil production potential of Abu Dhabi’s largest producing oil asset – the Upper Zakum offshore field – to 1.2 million b/d.
UAE-based Target Engineering Construction Company won the contract for the project, which is estimated to be worth $825m.
The main scope of work on the project involves the EPC of several surface facilities and plants at the Upper Zakum offshore development’s four main artificial islands of Al-Ghallan, Umm Al Anbar, Ettouk and Asseifiya – also known as Central Island, West Island, North Island and South Island, respectively.
Also in 2024, another Adnoc Group subsidiary, Adnoc Onshore, has awarded main contracts totalling more than $1.5bn for two packages on a project involving the conversion of wells and the installation of associated tie-ins at the southeast cluster of oil fields in Abu Dhabi.
Package 3 covers the EPC of well tie-ins and other associated structures at the Asab and Sahil oil fields, while package 4 relates to the Shah, Qusahwira and Mender fields.
Adnoc Onshore split the scope of work on packages 3 and 4 and appointed two contractors for each package.
Pakistan-headquartered Descon Engineering and Galfar Engineering & Construction Emirates, the UAE division of Omani contractor Galfar Engineering & Contracting, have won contracts for package 3, according to sources.
Galfar Engineering & Construction Emirates has also won a contract for package 4, while Abu Dhabi-based Al Nasr Contracting Company has secured the other contract, sources said. The combined values of the EPC contracts awarded by Adnoc Onshore for packages 3 and 4 are estimated to be $790m and $760m, respectively.
Upcoming tenders
Looking ahead, Adnoc Offshore is also preparing to issue the main EPC tender for a second phase of the project to increase the oil production capacity of the Upper Zakum field development.
Separately, contractors are preparing bids for a major project to boost oil production at the Lower Zakum offshore hydrocarbons concession in Abu Dhabi.
The Lower Zakum hydrocarbons zone is 65 kilometres northwest of Abu Dhabi in the Gulf’s waters. Adnoc Offshore holds the majority 60% stake in the Lower Zakum asset. Foreign partners include an Indian consortium of companies led by ONGC Videsh (10%), Japan’s Inpex Corporation (10%), China National Petroleum Corporation (10%), Italy’s Eni (5%) and France’s TotalEnergies (5%).
Adnoc and its partners in the Ghasha concession dominated spending in 2023, awarding contracts worth $16.94bn in early October for EPC works on the Hail and Ghasha sour gas production project
Adnoc Offshore’s larger, longer-term objective is to raise the asset’s output capacity to 520,000 b/d by 2027 and maintain that level until 2034. This strategic goal will be accomplished through the Lower Zakum Long-Term Development Plan (LTDP-1) project.
Adnoc Offshore issued the main EPC tender for the multibillion-dollar Lower Zakum LTDP-1 project in March. Contractors invited to bid have until the end of July to submit technical bids for the project, while commercial bids are due in September.
Adnoc Offshore intends to award EPC contracts for the Lower Zakum LTDP-1 project by the end of the year.
MEED's April 2024 special report on the UAE includes:
> COMMENT: Non-oil activity underpins UAE economy
> GVT & ECONOMY: Non-oil activity underpins UAE economy
> BANKING: UAE banks seize the moment
> DOWNSTREAM: UAE builds its downstream and chemicals potential
> POWER: UAE marks successful power project deliveries
> WATER: Dubai tunnels project dominates UAE pipeline
> DUBAI CONSTRUCTION: Dubai real estate boosts construction sector
> ABU DHABI CONSTRUCTION: Abu Dhabi makes major construction investments
Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.
Exclusive from Meed
-
-
-
Read the April 2026 MEED Business Review2 April 2026
-
-
Chevron to drill two gas wells in Egypt before 20272 April 2026
All of this is only 1% of what MEED.com has to offer
Subscribe now and unlock all the 153,671 articles on MEED.com
- All the latest news, data, and market intelligence across MENA at your fingerprints
- First-hand updates and inside information on projects, clients and competitors that matter to you
- 20 years' archive of information, data, and news for you to access at your convenience
- Strategize to succeed and minimise risks with timely analysis of current and future market trends
Related Articles
-
Saudi Arabia seeks firms for food testing labs PPP project
2 April 2026
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Municipalities & Housing, in collaboration with the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP), has issued an expression of interest (EOI) notice for a contract to develop and operate municipal food safety laboratories under a public-private partnership (PPP) framework.
The project will be delivered on an equip, operate, maintain and transfer basis, with a contract duration of five years.
The EOI was issued on 1 April, with a submission deadline of 15 April.
The project scope covers the equipping, operation and maintenance of municipal food safety laboratories across five municipalities: Hafr Al-Batin, Northern Borders, Tabuk, Qassim and Al-Ahsa.
Key objectives include upgrading laboratory equipment, expanding chemical and microbiological testing capacity for food and water products, and enhancing testing accuracy to support laboratory compliance across the value chain. The project also aims to ensure effective knowledge transfer and a structured handover to the relevant municipalities at the end of the contract term.
NCP said in a statement: “The project is intended to strengthen public health and safety standards for citizens and residents of the kingdom in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030, while developing the municipal monitoring ecosystem, optimising food and water testing services, and enabling private sector participation in accordance with global best practices.”
In October last year, NCP highlighted the scale and diversity of opportunities in the kingdom’s PPP pipeline.
“At the moment, we have around 200 projects in the pipeline with a total value of roughly $190bn,” said Salman Badr, executive vice president – infrastructure advisory, NCP, during a MEED webinar.
The projects are spread across 17 sectors. “We have a very sizable programme, and it reflects the breadth of the kingdom’s transformation agenda,” he said.
NCP was established in 2017. It serves as the central authority and catalyst for designing and implementing privatisation and PPP projects across the kingdom.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16236864/main.gif -
Parsons to project manage Al-Ittihad Sports Village in Jeddah
2 April 2026
US-based engineering firm Parsons Corporation has been awarded a contract by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad Club Company to act as project management consultant for the Al-Ittihad Sports Village in Jeddah.
Under the contract, Parsons will support the project during the design stage.
The sports village will be developed near King Abdullah Sports City and will include Al-Ittihad’s headquarters, academy training pitches and supporting facilities, performance development centres, administrative offices and a range of commercial components.
The development is being designed in line with Fifa requirements and international best practices, with the aim of strengthening high-performance sports infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
The latest award follows Parsons’ recent appointment to a 60-month contract by the Public Investment Fund-backed New Murabba Development Company to provide design and construction technical support.
As part of that role, Parsons will support the development of the project’s downtown area, which will span 14 million square metres of residential, workplace and entertainment space.
In October last year, Parsons announced it had secured a SR210m ($56m) contract from Diriyah Company. Its scope includes the design and construction supervision of infrastructure works in phase two of the Diriyah project, covering streets, footpaths, open spaces, and civic buildings and facilities.
In May last year, Parsons also confirmed its appointment as delivery partner for the airside and landside packages at King Salman International airport in Riyadh.
In a statement, Parsons said it had signed two contracts with King Salman International Airport Development Company. The first covers airfield assets, including runways, taxiways, aircraft parking areas and air traffic control towers.
The second contract relates to landside infrastructure, including roads, utilities, tunnels, bridges, rail networks and landscaping.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16233673/main.jpg -
Read the April 2026 MEED Business Review
2 April 2026
Download / Subscribe / 14-day trial access When the first missiles and drones were fired at the GCC on 28 February, the region’s economic story pivoted abruptly, from long-term vision-building to near-term resilience.
The conflict is now the Gulf’s most consequential economic stress test in a generation. It is challenging the safe haven premium that underpins capital inflows, while disrupting the physical networks that keep the region’s economies running, from energy exports and shipping lanes to airports and tourism.MEED editor Colin Foreman asks whether the GCC can sustain investor confidence as energy assets, trade routes, airports and banks absorb the shock. Read more here.
April’s market focus is on Saudi Arabia, where the Iran war is compounding the logic behind the kingdom’s strategic pivot in its investment plans.
This edition also includes MEED’s 2026 GCC contractor ranking, in which Chinese firms have surged to the top as Saudi spending cuts and geopolitical risks weigh on GCC construction activity.
In the latest issue, we explore the region’s evolving arbitration landscape; present exclusive leadership insight from Jacobs on the future of passenger rail in the Middle East; and talk to Leyla Abdimomunova, head of real estate and construction at the Public Investment Fund’s National Development Division, about remaking Saudi construction.
We hope our valued subscribers enjoy the April 2026 issue of MEED Business Review.
Must-read sections in the April 2026 issue of MEED Business Review include:
> AGENDA: Gulf economies under fireINDUSTRY REPORT:
GCC contractor ranking
> Construction guard undergoes a shift> LEGAL: Redefining the region’s arbitration landscape
> QATAR LNG: Qatar’s new $8bn investment heats up global LNG race
> INTERVIEW: Leyla Abdimomunova, National Development Division, PIF
> LEADERSHIP: Shaping the future of passenger rail in the Middle East
> SAUDI MARKET FOCUS:
> COMMENT: Risk accelerates Saudi spending shift
> GVT &: ECONOMY: Riyadh navigates a changed landscape
> BANKING: Testing times for Saudi banks
> UPSTREAM: Offshore oil and gas projects to dominate Aramco capex in 2026
> DOWNSTREAM: Saudi downstream projects market enters lean period
> POWER: Wind power gathers pace in Saudi Arabia
> WATER: Sharakat plan signals next phase of Saudi water expansion
> CONSTRUCTION: Saudi construction enters a period of strategic readjustment
> TRANSPORT: Rail expansion powers Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure push> MEED COMMENTS:
> Iran war erodes LNG’s image of reliability
> Dubai's real estate faces a hard test
> Energy resilience matters as much as capacity
> Drawn-out conflict may shift planning priorities> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf index rises amid tensions
> FEBRUARY 2025 CONTRACTS: Middle East contract awards
> ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects
> OPINION: The end of the republic and the end of times
> BUSINESS OUTLOOK: Finance, oil and gas, construction, power and water contracts
To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16222272/main.gif -
Consultants submit bids for Al-Maktoum airport metro link
2 April 2026
French firm Egis has emerged as the lowest bidder for the design contract for the Route 2020 extension, which will start from the Expo 2020 metro station and connect with Al-Maktoum International airport’s West Terminal.
Egis submitted the lowest bid, priced at AED232.6m ($63.3m).
The other bidders are:
- Halcrow International (UK): $66.4m
- Parsons (US): $71.3m
- Aecom (US): $82.6m
- Surbana Jurong (Singapore): $106m
The extension to the line will run for about 3 kilometres (km) and will feature two stations.
MEED understands that the invitation to bid was issued in January with a submission deadline of mid-March.
The existing Route 2020 metro link is a 15km-long line that branches off the Red Line at Jebel Ali metro station. The line comprises 11.8km of elevated tracks and 3.2km of tunnels, and has five elevated stations and two underground stations.
The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) awarded the AED10.6bn ($2.9bn) design-and-build contract for the project to a consortium of Spain’s Acciona, Turkiye’s Gulermak and France’s Alstom in 2016.
Dubai’s plans for its metro network do not stop with connecting the extension of the Route 2020 metro line to Al-Maktoum International airport. There are long-term plans for further extensions.
Other metro projects
In October last year, MEED exclusively reported that the RTA had selected US-based engineering firm Aecom to provide consultancy services for the upcoming Dubai Metro Gold Line project, also known as Metro Line 4.
The Gold Line will start at Al-Ghubaiba in Bur Dubai. It will run parallel to – and alleviate pressure on – the existing Red Line, before heading inland to Business Bay, Meydan, Global Village and residential developments in Dubailand.
The other metro lines in the pipeline are the Purple Line and the Pink Line, both of which are in the early stages of development.
Firms are also bidding to update the emirate’s rail masterplan. In October 2025, MEED reported that 10 firms had submitted offers to undertake the project.
The rail masterplan study will update and modify the RTA’s rail network, which includes the Dubai Metro and Dubai Tram. These plans will support Dubai’s 2040 urban masterplan, which aims for all residents to be within a 30-minute metro or light-rail trip to their place of work.
The existing network includes the Red and Green lines of the Dubai Metro and the Dubai Tram, which connects Al-Sufouh and Dubai Marina to the metro network. The last rail project to start operations in Dubai was the Red Line extension that opened for Expo 2020.
There are also existing and planned rail lines connecting Dubai to other emirates that are being developed and operated by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Rail. These include passenger and freight services as well as a high-speed rail connection.
In December 2024, the RTA awarded a AED20.5bn main contract for the Dubai Metro Blue Line project to a consortium of Turkish firms Limak Holding and Mapa Group and the Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation.
The Blue Line consists of 14 stations, including three interchange stations at Al-Jaddaf, Al-Rashidiya and International City 1, as well as a station in Dubai Creek Harbour. By 2040, daily ridership on the Blue Line is projected to reach 320,000 passengers. It will be the first Dubai Metro line to cross Dubai Creek, doing so on a 1,300-metre viaduct.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16233295/main.jpg -
Chevron to drill two gas wells in Egypt before 2027
2 April 2026
Chevron is planning to drill two new gas wells this year, one in the Narges field and another in the Western Mediterranean, according to Clay Neff, the president of exploration operations at the company.
The well in the Western Mediterranean area is due to be drilled in partnership with the London-headquartered oil and gas company Shell.
Egypt and the broader East Mediterranean region will be core pillars of Chevron’s investment roadmap over the coming years, Neff said.
He also said that the investments in Egypt reflected the Eastern Mediterranean’s growing strategic importance within Chevron’s global portfolio
According to Neff, Chevron is aiming to increase its operational production capacity in the region by as much as 50% over the next five years, something that is expected to strengthen cash generation and enhance profitability from its regional operations.
Chevron’s presence in Egypt dates back nearly nine decades, beginning in 1937 with the distribution of petroleum products before expanding into exploration and production activities in recent years.
The company currently produces more than 2 billion cubic feet of gas a day across the Eastern Mediterranean.
Chevron is advancing broader expansion initiatives in the Eastern Mediterranean region that include modernising existing facilities and increasing production capacity, alongside ongoing engineering and design work on the Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus.
A recently signed government agreement enables the construction of a subsea pipeline connecting Cyprus directly to Egypt.
Neff said the company is targeting an early final investment decision on the project next year, expressing confidence that close cooperation between Cairo and Nicosia will support timely progress.
He emphasised that meeting domestic and regional energy demand remains the company’s top priority before directing additional supplies toward export markets in Europe or elsewhere.
Neff said that Egypt’s well-developed energy infrastructure, particularly its pipeline network and liquefaction plants, provided a strategic edge, adding that new discoveries and capacity expansions will gradually support higher export volumes while safeguarding local supply needs.
The comments from Neff come shortly after it was announced that the UK oil and gas company BP was making progress with its campaign to drill five wells in Egypt’s portion of the Mediterranean.
BP’s Fayoum 4 well is scheduled to start production in July, with an estimated output of around 100 million cubic feet of gas a day.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16226687/main.jpg