Meed | Capacity building spurs upstream spending

Capacity building spurs upstream spending

27 April 2023

The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, where a third of the world’s crude oil and about a quarter of its natural gas is produced, is increasing its hydrocarbons production potential.

There are an estimated $113.6bn-worth of upstream oil and gas projects in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) execution stage in the Mena region, according to data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects.

Most of these schemes are set to be commissioned between this year and 2025, helping the region to consolidate its position as the largest producer of crude oil, natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

With the world still heavily reliant on hydrocarbons, and green energy sources falling short of meeting global energy needs, oil and gas producers in the region see more merit in investing in building upstream production potential.

Regional oil and gas industry leaders have been making the case for increasing spending on boosting hydrocarbons output capacity. Their purpose has been to draw the world’s attention to the role of fossil fuels as a bridge to achieving a clean energy transition, as well as to justify their major upstream capital expenditure (capex) programmes.

Saudi Arabia dominates

Saudi Aramco tops MEED’s ranking of state energy enterprises in the Mena region by the volume of upstream oil and gas projects under EPC execution, with nearly $41bn-worth of project value.

Aramco aims to increase its maximum oil output spare capacity to 13 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2027 from about 12 million b/d currently. It also plans to raise gas production by 50 per cent by the end of this decade.

With a large portion of its under-execution projects expected to come online by the middle of this decade, the Saudi energy giant appears to be on track to meet its strategic output goals.

The largest Saudi Aramco project under execution is the $3bn-plus Berri increment programme, which was awarded to Italian contractor Saipem in July 2019. Through the project, Aramco plans to add 250,000 b/d of Arabian light crude from the offshore oil and gas field.

The planned facilities will include a new gas oil separation plant (GOSP) on Abu Ali Island to process 500,000 b/d of Arabian light crude and additional processing facilities at the Khursaniyah gas plant to process 40,000 b/d of associated hydrocarbons condensates.

The Berri increment programme will complement Saudi Aramco’s $15bn Marjan field development programme, EPC contracts for which were also awarded in July 2019. The scheme is an integrated project for oil, associated gas, non-associated gas and cap gas from the Marjan offshore oil and gas field.

The Marjan development plan includes provision of a new offshore GOSP and 24 offshore oil, gas and water injection platforms. The contract for the main GOSP, which is worth $3bn and is the first EPC package of the project, was awarded to McDermott International. The US contractor also won offshore package four, which involves the building of offshore gas facilities and is valued at about $1.5bn.

The offshore development project aims to increase the production of the Marjan field by 300,000 b/d of Arabian medium crude oil, process 2.5 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas and produce an additional 360,000 b/d of ethane and natural gas liquids.

Looking ahead, Aramco expects capital expenditure in 2023 to be $45bn-$55bn, including external investments. This projected spending is at least 20 per cent higher than the company’s $37.6bn capex in 2022.

Qatar’s LNG expansion

With the goal of consolidating its position as the world’s largest supplier of gas, QatarEnergy continues to progress with its North Field LNG expansion programme. The project, which is estimated to be worth about $30bn, will increase Qatar’s LNG production to 126 million tonnes a year (t/y) in two phases by 2027.

The two-stage North Field Production Sustainability (NFPS) programme will run in parallel, to help maintain gas production from the offshore reserve in order to match the feedstock requirements of the LNG expansion scheme.

QatarEnergy led spending on upstream projects in 2022 for the second year in a row, accounting for more than a third of the $18.9bn EPC contract awards in the Mena region. The firm’s overall value of EPC projects under execution stands at $27.3bn, putting it in second place in MEED’s ranking of the biggest national oil companies by volume of under-execution projects.

Launched in 2017, the North Field East (NFE) project constitutes the first phase of QatarEnergy’s North Field LNG expansion project. As well as an LNG output of 32 million t/y, NFE will produce 4,000 tonnes a day (t/d) of ethane as feedstock for future petrochemicals developments, 260,000 b/d of condensates, 11,000 t/d of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and 20 t/d of helium.

The EPC works on QatarEnergy’s NFE project were divided into six packages – four onshore and two offshore – and are currently progressing.

QatarEnergy awarded a $13bn contract for NFE package one to a consortium of Chiyoda and TechnipEnergies in February 2021. The package covers the EPC of four LNG trains, each planned to have an output capacity of about 8 million t/y.

QatarEnergy’s largest award in 2022 was a $4.5bn EPC contract that was won by Saipem for the building and installation of two gas compression facilities as part of the second development phase of its NFPS project. The gas compression complexes covered in the package known as EPCI 2 will weigh 62,000 tonnes and 63,000 tonnes and will be the largest fixed steel jacket compression platforms ever built.

Abu Dhabi ambitions

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) adopted a five-year business plan in November last year that covers a capex budget of $150bn for 2023-27. The budget also sets the target of achieving its oil production capacity goal of 5 million b/d by 2027 rather than 2030.

The oil production increment projects that it has under execution are expected to play a key role in enabling the Abu Dhabi major to attain its accelerated oil capacity target.

The largest of Adnoc’s under execution projects is a $1.4bn EPC contract awarded to Spanish contractor Tecnicas Reunidas in late 2018 for upgrading the Bu Hasa onshore oil field development. Through this project, Adnoc plans to increase the Bu Hasa field’s production from 500,000 b/d to 650,000 b/d.

On the gas production front – a core priority for Adnoc – $1.5bn-worth of EPC contracts were awarded to Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) and Tecnicas Reunidas in November 2021 for the offshore and onshore packages, respectively, of the Dalma sour gas field development project.

When completed in 2025, the project will enable the Dalma field to produce about 340 million cf/d of natural gas.

The Abu Dhabi energy giant further intends to raise its total gas output by 3 billion cf/d in the next few years. The Hail and Ghasha offshore sour gas production project will be central to achieving this goal.

In January, Adnoc signed pre-construction services agreements (PCSAs) with France-headquartered Technip Energies, South Korean contractor Samsung Engineering and Italy’s Tecnimont for the Hail and Ghasha onshore package. Saipem, NPCC and state-owned China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Company secured a PCSA for the offshore package.

While the onshore and offshore PCSAs awarded to the two consortiums by Adnoc are valued at $80m and $60m, respectively, the EPC packages are estimated to be worth $5.5bn and $5bn.

As part of the PCSAs, the contractors are required to perform initial detailed engineering and procurement for important long-lead items.

Based on proposals to be submitted later this year, Adnoc is expected to award the same contractors the contracts for the main EPC works on the Hail and Ghasha project.

Production from the Ghasha concession, where the Dalma and Hail and Ghasha fields are located, is expected to start in 2025, ramping up to more than 1.5 billion cf/d before the end of this decade.

Main image: Saudi Aramco tops the ranking of state energy enterprises in the Mena region with almost $41bn-worth of projects under execution. Credit: Aramco

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Indrajit Sen

Exclusive from Meed

KBR seeks renewable energy contracts in Libya
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Sharakat receives bids for Riyadh East sewage treatment plant
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Egypt firm wins Al-Dabaa desalination O&M contract
29 September 2026
Oman awards exploration blocks to state upstream firm
28 September 2026
Saudi Arabia qualifies firms for gas-fired IPPs
28 September 2026

KBR seeks renewable energy contracts in Libya
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The US-headquartered technology and engineering company KBR is seeking renewable energy project contracts in Libya.

Representatives from KBR met with Abdussalam Elansari, chairman of the Renewable Energy Authority of Libya, earlier this month to discuss project opportunities, sources said.

The meeting with Elansari followed KBR’s opening of a new branch in Libya and its securing of several contract awards in the oil and gas sector.

In March, KBR announced that it had been awarded a contract by Zallaf Exploration, Production & Refining of Oil & Gas Company to provide project management and technical services for the South Refinery Project in Libya’s southern city of Ubari.

Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide contract management, project management and supporting technical services throughout the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) phases of the project, according to a company statement.

The EPC work is expected to be executed over a 50-month period.

KBR is also carrying out work to re-evaluate the front-end engineering and design (feed) for the project to develop Libya’s J6 North Gialo field.

In January, KBR signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state-owned Libyan Post, Telecommunications & Information Technology Company.

Under the MoU, KBR agreed to support efforts to develop and improve Libya’s communications infrastructure and enhance fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks in the country.

KBR has previously provided engineering services for major national projects in Libya, but was forced to shut down its office in the country several times amid political instability and security issues.

When the company was known as Brown & Root, it worked on the Great Man-Made River Project in Libya, which is widely recognised as the largest irrigation project in the world.

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Wil Crisp
Sharakat receives bids for Riyadh East sewage treatment plant
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Saudi Arabia’s state water offtaker Sharakat has received bids for the contract to develop the $150m Riyadh East independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP).

Bids were submitted on 28 September.

The plant will have a treatment capacity of 200,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) in its first phase, expanding to 500,000 cm/d in the second phase.

Five consortiums made offers, including:
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- Lamar (Bahrain) / China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC)
- Miahona (Saudi Arabia) / Marafiq (Saudi Arabia) / Bin Omairah Holding (Saudi Arabia)
- Suez (France) / Civil Works Company (Saudi Arabia) / Alwael (Saudi Arabia)
In May, MEED exclusively reported that groups had begun to form for the project, which will be developed under a build‑own‑operate‑transfer model with a 25‑year concession term.

It is understood that at least two other potential consortiums weighed up making an offer for the contract, but did not bid.

In 2024, Sharakat prequalified 53 companies that could bid for the Riyadh East ISTP, part of seven planned ISTP projects it said it would procure between 2024 and 2026. The request for proposals was issued last October.

WSP is the technical adviser, and KPMG Middle East is the lead and financial adviser.

The targeted commercial operation date for the facility is 2029.
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Mark Dowdall
Egypt firm wins Al-Dabaa desalination O&M contract
29 September 2026

Elsewedy Utilities has been awarded a three-year operation and maintenance (O&M) contract for a seawater desalination plant in Al-Dabaa on Egypt’s north coast.

The plant has a production capacity of 40,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), and the contract runs for three years.

The award reflects Egypt’s increased focus on involving local private sector companies in operating and maintaining existing seawater desalination plants.

In March, Egypt’s Ministry of Housing, Utilities & Urban Communities directed that a number of existing desalination plants with capacities of more than 10,000 cm/d be offered to specialised local private sector companies for O&M. The plants include facilities in Al-Dabaa, Matrouh and El-Alamein, as well as sites in the Red Sea region and North and South Sinai.

The government said the move is intended to improve operating efficiency, strengthen maintenance systems and make greater use of specialised technical expertise. The contract value was not disclosed.

Elsewedy Utilities is the utilities and facilities management arm of Elsewedy Electric, with activities spanning engineering, procurement and construction, O&M and utility management.

As MEED understands, the contract is separate from the South Med desalination project at Al-Dabaa, which is being developed for the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces’ Water Management Department.

Elsewedy Electric Infrastructure previously announced it is the main engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the planned 160,000-cubic-metre-a-day seawater reverse-osmosis plant.

Cairo-headquartered Engineering Experience Group also won a design and engineering services contract for the project in June.

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Mark Dowdall
Oman awards exploration blocks to state upstream firm
28 September 2026

Oman’s Ministry of Energy & Minerals (MEMR) has awarded state-owned upstream firm OQ Exploration & Production (OQEP) exploration rights for three hydrocarbon blocks in the sultanate.

OQEP, which is 75% owned by Omani state energy group OQ, has secured rights for Blocks 36, 43A and 66.

Under the agreements, OQEP will conduct geological and geophysical surveys, analysis and modelling, and drill exploratory wells at the three blocks, with the aim of developing recoverable reserves.

Neither MEMR nor OQEP disclosed the blocks’ locations, areas or prospective reserves in their statement.

OQEP’s portfolio comprises 14 upstream oil and gas exploration and production assets in Oman, covering onshore and offshore operations and assets held under service contracts.

Formerly known as Oman Oil Company Exploration & Production, OQEP’s flagship assets include Block 60, which contains the Abu Tubul and Bisat oil fields, and Block 48. The company also holds strategic interests in gas-producing Blocks 9, 10 and 61.

Offshore expansion

OQEP has been expanding its offshore exploration portfolio. In February, the company acquired a 30% participating interest in offshore Block 18, following MEMR’s award of exploration rights to a joint venture between OQEP subsidiary OQ Exploration & Production Al-Batinah Offshore and PC Oman Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia’s Petronas.

Located off Oman’s northeastern coast, Block 18 covers more than 21,000 square kilometres in the Sea of Oman, with water depths ranging from 50 metres to 3,000 metres. No confirmed discoveries have previously been reported in the block.

ALSO READ: Concession deals boost momentum in Oman mining

Under the concession agreement, Petronas holds a 70% participating interest and operatorship, while OQEP holds the remaining 30%.

OQEP has also expanded its producing portfolio through the acquisition of a 35% interest in onshore Block 27 from Japan's Mitsui E&P Middle East in April. The transaction was valued at RO28.8m ($75m).

Block 27 is operated by US-based Occidental Petroleum, which holds a 65% participating interest under an exploration and production-sharing agreement valid until 2035.

OQEP expects its interest in the block to contribute approximately 3,500 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d) in additional net production this year.

In June, MEMR signed an with OQEP and state-owned Turkiye Petroller AO (TPAO), granting the companies exclusive exploration, appraisal, development and production rights for offshore Block 80.

The block covers approximately 5,737 sq km in the Gulf of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz and off Musandam governorate. It includes the producing Bukha and West Bukha oil and gas fields.

The agreement stipulates a minimum exploration investment commitment of $90m over an initial eight-year exploration period. The work programme is divided into two phases to evaluate the block’s hydrocarbon potential.

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Indrajit Sen

Saudi Arabia qualifies firms for gas-fired IPPs

28 September 2026

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Principal buyer Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) has qualified 13 companies to bid for the third round of Saudi Arabia’s combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) independent power producer (IPP) programme.

The projects will comprise new CCGT plants developed on a build-own-operate basis. Each project will be implemented through a special-purpose project company wholly owned by the successful bidder.

The qualified firms are:

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company [Taqa] (UAE)
Acwa (Saudi Arabia)
Al-Bawani Capital (Saudi Arabia)
Al-Jomaih Energy & Water (Saudi Arabia)
EDF (France)
Etihad Development Company (UAE)
Kepco (South Korea)
Marafiq (Saudi Arabia)
Mitsubishi Power (Japan)
Nesma Renewable Energy (Saudi Arabia)
PowerChina (China)
Saudi Energy (Saudi Arabia)
Sumitomo Corporation (Japan)

Developers submitted statements of qualification for the round on 23 August, as exclusively reported by MEED.

Some have already begun “the process of forming consortiums to bid” for the project, with up to three or four groups likely to make offers.

Also in September, MEED exclusively reported that US-based GE Vernova was close to finalising a turbine reservation agreement with SPPC for the plants.

The new plants will use advanced H-class or J-class gas turbine technology. Each IPP is expected to comprise two or three gas turbine generators, corresponding heat recovery steam generators with duct firing, and one or two steam turbine generators.

The request for qualifications released by SPPC in July did not specify the number, locations or capacities of the projects, which mark the next stage of its CCGT IPP programme.

The first round comprises Taiba 1, Taiba 2, Qassim 1 and Qassim 2, with a combined capacity of 7,200MW.

The second round comprises Rumah 1, Rumah 2, Nairyah 1 and Nairyah 2, also with a combined capacity of 7,200MW.

Saudi Arabia’s Acwa recently said it had begun initial commercial operations at the Taiba 1 and Qassim 1 CCGT power plants.

US/India-based Synergy Consulting is the financial adviser for the procurement; Germany’s Fichtner is the technical adviser; and UK-headquartered Eversheds Sutherland is the legal adviser.

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