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• 
  Turkish firm launches Mecca villas project

  10 April 2026

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  Turkish real estate investment firm Emlak Konut has announced the launch of Hayat Makkah, its first development in Saudi Arabia.

  The project is part of the National Housing Company’s (NHC) wider Mecca Gate masterplan.

  According to the company, Hayat Makkah will feature 1,014 villas, with home sizes ranging from 150 to 5,000 square metres.

  NHC and Emlak Konut signed an investment agreement worth over SR1bn ($266m) in November last year to develop the project.

  The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Cityscape Global 2025 event in Riyadh.

  Ertan Keles, chairman of Emlak Konut, said the firm is in talks with stakeholders about launching a second project, while a third development is also being lined up in Jeddah.

  GlobalData expects the Saudi Arabian construction industry to grow by 3.6% in real terms in 2026, supported by an increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) and investments in the housing and manufacturing sectors.

  The residential construction sector is expected to grow by 3.8% in real terms in 2026 and register an average annual growth rate of 4.7% between 2027 and 2030, supported by the country’s aim – under Saudi Vision 2030 – to increase homeownership from 65.4% in 2024 to 70% by 2030, including by building 600,000 homes by 2030.

  According to the General Authority for Statistics, Saudi Arabia attracted a net FDI inflow of SR72.3bn ($19.3bn) in the first nine months of 2025, an increase of 32.7% year-on-year (YoY) compared to the same period in 2024.

  Similarly, the total value of real estate loans from banks grew by 11.5% YoY in 2025, preceded by an annual growth of 13.3% in 2024, according to the Saudi Central Bank (Sama).

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

  Economic shock threatens long-term outlook; Riyadh adjusts to fiscal and geopolitical risk; GCC contractor ranking reflects gigaprojects slowdown.

  Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the April 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

  > AGENDA: Gulf economies under fire > GCC CONTRACTOR RANKING: Construction guard undergoes a shift > MARKET FOCUS: Risk accelerates Saudi spending 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

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

   

  

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Aramco selects contractor for offshore jackets tender

  9 April 2026

  

   

  Saudi Aramco has selected the main contractor for a tender covering engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of multiple structures at Saudi Arabia’s offshore oil and gas fields.

  The scope of work under tender number 161 on Aramco’s Contract Release and Purchase Order (CRPO) system broadly covers the EPCI of four gas jackets at the Arabiyah, Hasbah and Karan offshore fields.

  State-owned China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) has won CRPO 161, according to sources, who added that Aramco’s official contract award is pending.

  Aramco issued CRPO 161 to offshore contractors in its Long-Term Agreement (LTA) pool on 1 June, MEED previously reported. Offshore LTA contractors submitted bids for CRPO 161 on 27 August. Aramco initially set the bid submission deadline for 29 July, which was later extended to 20 August and then to 27 August, according to sources.

  MEED reported in October that US-based McDermott International had submitted the lowest bid for CRPO 161 based on Aramco’s initial evaluation of bids, adding at the time that there was no certainty the American contractor would win the job.

  Offshore contract awards galore

  Aramco spent almost $11bn on offshore EPCI contracts last year, which is more than double its capital expenditure on offshore projects in 2024, marking yet another year of robust upstream project spending in Saudi Arabia.

  In July, Aramco selected contractors for five CRPOs – numbers 150, 157, 158, 159 and 160 – worth over $3bn. These involve EPCI work and infrastructure upgrades at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa, Marjan and Zuluf offshore fields.

  The Saudi energy giant then picked contractors for four more CRPOs that are part of the large-scale project to expand infrastructure at the Zuluf offshore field development. The tenders are CRPOs 145, 146, 147 and 148, and their combined value is estimated to be almost $6bn.

  In late December last year, Italian contractor Saipem announced securing contracts for CRPOs 162 and 165. The scope of work on CRPO 162 covers the EPCI of two rigid pipelines – a 30-inch pipeline stretching 23.98km, and a 20-inch pipeline, 10.23km-long; replacement of a flexible 10-inch pipeline that spans 5.1km; along with modification work on topsides at the Berri and Abu Safah field developments. The duration of this contract is 32 months, Saipem said.

  The scope of work on CRPO 165, lasting 12 months, includes subsea interventions at the Marjan field development and the EPCI of 300 metres of onshore pipeline and associated tie-ins.

  MEED reported in early January this year that Aramco had selected US-based McDermott International for CRPO 166. The scope of work is understood to have been carved out of the major $15bn Marjan offshore field development project, as part of which Aramco issued contracts for 20 EPCI packages in 2019. McDermott won the largest share of work on the project, with an estimated $4.5bn-worth of contracts secured for two packages.

  The contract for CRPO 166 was single-sourced to McDermott without a competitive tendering process, and issued as a change order, sources told MEED.

  Aramco then awarded its second offshore contract of this year in the form of CRPO 156 to Saipem. The scope of work on the contract covers the EPCI of a 48-inch trunkline, covering a distance of roughly 65km offshore and 12km onshore, from the Safaniya offshore oil field to the onshore processing facility, plus associated structures such as subsea hook-ups.

  CRPO 156 comprises the third package in Aramco’s latest expansion phase at Safaniya – the world’s largest offshore oil field, with a production capacity of nearly 1.2 million barrels a day (b/d). Discovered in 1951, the field is located in the Gulf waters, approximately 265 kilometres north of Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran.

  MEED also recently reported that Saipem was selected by Aramco for two more tenders as part of the Safaniya field development expansion phase – CRPOs 154 and 155. The combined contract value for CRPOs 154 and 155 is estimated at $600m, as per sources.

  Healthy contract award pipeline

  Looking ahead, Aramco is evaluating bids it received from its offshore LTA contractors in July and August for at least two more tenders.

  These tenders are CRPOs 163 and 164, relating to the EPCI of key infrastructure at the Abu Safah, Berri, Karan, Marjan and Safaniya fields.

  Moreover, MEED reported in January that Aramco had issued a new batch of five offshore tenders covering the EPCI of key structures at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa, Marjan and Zuluf fields, which are CRPOs 167, 168, 169, 170 and 171.

  Aramco issued the five CRPOs to its offshore LTA contractors in December, initially setting a bid submission deadline of 3 February, which it later extended until 31 March, and then further until 1 June.

  Aramco’s LTA pool of offshore service providers comprises the following entities:

  • Saipem (Italy)
  • McDermott International (US)
  • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH, India) / Subsea7 (UK)
  • NMDC Energy (UAE)
  • Lamprell (UAE/Saudi Arabia)
  • China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (China)
  • Dynamic Industries (US)
  • Sapura Energy (Malaysia)
  • TechnipFMC (France) / MMHE (Malaysia)
  • Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)

  Aramco renewed its LTAs last April with the following contractors, whose contracts had either lapsed or were close to expiry:

  • Saipem
  • McDermott International
  • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon / Subsea7
  • NMDC Energy
  • Lamprell
  • China Offshore Oil Engineering Company

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Local firm wins Riyadh water operations contract

  9 April 2026

  Saudi-based Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies (AWPT) has won a contract to operate and maintain treated sewage effluent (TSE) networks and facilities in Riyadh.

  The contract was awarded by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) on 5 April, according to a market filing by the company.

  The scope covers the operation and maintenance of TSE networks and facilities under Group 1 in Riyadh City. The contract is valued at SR69.6m ($18.5m) and has a duration of 30 months.

  The deal follows a recent five-year contract from Jeddah Municipality for the operation and cleaning of stormwater networks in the airport’s sub-municipality area of Jeddah.

  According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, RCRC has $1.19bn-worth of water transmission projects under execution.

  In 2024, RCRC appointed the local Mutlaq Damook Al-Ghowairi Contracting for the construction of a $100m heat pumping station as part of the Green Riyadh project.

  RCRC designed Green Riyadh in 2018 to improve liveability standards in Riyadh. As MEED understands, the pumping station project will begin construction this year.

  Elsewhere, in January, AWPT won another contract with state-owned utility National Water Company to operate and maintain water assets in Tabuk City.

  The scope of work includes the operation and maintenance of water networks, pump stations, wells, tanks and related facilities over a 36-month period.

  ---

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

  Economic shock threatens long-term outlook; Riyadh adjusts to fiscal and geopolitical risk; GCC contractor ranking reflects gigaprojects slowdown.

  Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the April 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

  > AGENDA: Gulf economies under fire > GCC CONTRACTOR RANKING: Construction guard undergoes a shift > MARKET FOCUS: Risk accelerates Saudi spending 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

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

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  Mark Dowdall
• 
  Force majeure will not cure pre-existing construction industry breaches

  9 April 2026

  As the 2026 Iran War disrupts critical maritime chokepoints and aviation corridors, the GCC construction sector faces unprecedented logistical challenges. Consequently, regional engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors are being inundated with force majeure notices.

  International suppliers claim the geopolitical crisis prevents them from fulfilling contracts, arguing this shields them from liability and allows them to retain massive advance payments. However, a contentious legal dilemma has emerged: Can a supplier weaponise an active conflict to camouflage a pre-existing breach, such as manufacturing defective materials or missing critical deadlines before the crisis erupted?

  For construction executives, GCC civil law provides a highly unforgiving answer. By examining a landmark judgment from the Dubai Court of First Instance (Judgment No. 695/2023) concerning the 2023 Sudan war, contractors can find a definitive legal playbook for the current environment.

  The Sudan precedent

  The factual matrix of the 2023 Sudan dispute serves as a perfect analogue for today’s supply chain fracturing. A regional contractor paid a 30% advance ($1.27m) for the offshore manufacture of structural steel water tanks destined for Sudan. In March 2023, an independent SGS inspection revealed critical life-safety and structural defects in the steel columns.

  Faced with a formal breach notice, the supplier proposed a “fix-it on-site” workaround, planning to fly engineers to Khartoum to alter concrete foundations to compensate for the defective steel. Just two days before this site visit, the Sudanese civil war erupted, shutting down airports.

  The supplier preemptively sued in Dubai, claiming the sudden outbreak of war was an unforeseeable event that made it physically impossible to rectify the defects or deliver the goods. They demanded to terminate the contract under force majeure and keep the advance payment.

  The Dubai Court fundamentally rejected this conflation. Relying on UAE Civil Transactions Law, the court established a bright-line rule: a subsequent force majeure event cannot cure, excuse or erase a pre-existing contractual breach.

  The supplier had breached the contract the moment the SGS report confirmed the defects. The fact that war broke out subsequently, preventing their travel for an ad-hoc fix, was legally irrelevant. The court ordered the supplier to refund the entire $1.27m advance payment, alongside a 5% annual delay interest.

  The bank guarantee trap

  The judgment also highlights a profound warning regarding financial hygiene. The contractor initially attempted to liquidate the supplier’s unconditional bank guarantee but failed.

  The contractor had erroneously wired the advance payment to the supplier’s Bank of China account, rather than the specific Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank account explicitly stipulated in the guarantee draft. This simple administrative routing error meant the guarantee was technically never activated, forcing the contractor into a lengthy substantive lawsuit to recover its funds.

  Wider GCC implications

  While originating in Dubai, this jurisprudential DNA applies universally across the GCC. The newly codified Saudi Civil Transactions Law, alongside Qatari and Omani civil codes, views construction supply contracts as rigid obligations of result.

  Across the region, courts uniformly reject the concept of “concurrent excuse”. If a supplier fails to build structural steel correctly in March, they cannot blame airspace closures in April for their failure to deliver.

  A strategic playbook for 2026

  For conglomerates battling the commercial fallout of the 2026 Iran War, this precedent offers a clear risk mitigation roadmap:

  • Eradicate the “fix-it on-site” culture: In wartime, accepting minor manufacturing defects with a promise of on-site rectification is a fatal misallocation of risk. If borders close, projects are left with unusable materials. Acceptance must be explicitly tied to absolute conformity prior to embarkation.
  • Elevate Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT): Never allow suppliers to ship materials blindly to beat port closures. Mandate strict third-party inspections at the point of origin. A failed FAT report legally severs the supplier’s access to a subsequent force majeure defence.
  • Issue immediate breach notices: Timing is the difference between a total loss and a full refund. Do not engage in informal workaround discussions while a crisis escalates. Issue formal legal default notices immediately to paper the breach before the fog of war obscures the facts.
  • Strict guarantee hygiene: Ensure finance departments route advance payments exactly to the SWIFT text or IBAN stipulated in the guarantee. A minor error can leave millions unsecured.
  • Draft pre-existing breach carve-outs: New contracts must explicitly state that suppliers cannot invoke force majeure to excuse delays or non-conformities that originated prior to the onset of the military event.

  The escalation of the 2026 conflict offers failing suppliers a tempting shield to hide supply chain mismanagement. However, regional jurisprudence sees through this illusion. By enforcing rapid default notices and rigorous inspections, project owners can ensure the financial risk of non-conformity remains exactly where it belongs: with the defaulting supplier.

  

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• 
  Saudi Arabia’s foreign property ownership milestone

  9 April 2026

  Saudi Arabia’s Real Estate Ownership Law, which came into force in January 2026, represents a significant and long-anticipated development in the kingdom’s approach to foreign ownership of real estate.

  It forms part of a broader evolution of the regulatory framework governing the sector, aimed at enhancing transparency, strengthening investor confidence, and supporting long-term market development in line with Vision 2030.

  As the framework begins to be implemented, market participants are increasingly focused on how these provisions will operate in practice and the implications for structuring real estate investments in the kingdom.

  Under the previous legislative framework, introduced in 2000, foreign ownership of Saudi property was more restricted. Ownership was generally limited to individuals or entities authorised to carry out professional or commercial activities in the kingdom, with property rights closely linked to those activities rather than broader investment or personal use.

  The law builds on this position by expanding both the categories of eligible owners and the scope of permitted real estate rights.

  The new law applies a broad definition of “non-Saudi”, encompassing foreign individuals, companies, non-profit organisations and other legal entities, within a structured and regulated framework.

  Expanding ownership rights

  Non-Saudi individuals, whether resident in the kingdom or abroad, may own real estate or acquire real property rights within designated geographical areas, as provided for under the implementing regulations.

  The law permits both ownership and the acquisition of other real property rights in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. In practice, this provides a clearer basis for foreign investors to assess how real estate interests may be structured within the kingdom.

  Non-Saudi residents are also permitted to own one residential property outside those designated areas. This does not extend to cities of religious significance, including Mecca and Medina, except where permitted under the applicable legal and regulatory framework.

  Foreign-owned Saudi companies may own real estate and acquire other real property rights necessary to conduct their licensed activities and to provide housing for employees, both within and outside designated geographical areas. This may, subject to applicable regulatory conditions, extend to properties in Mecca and Medina.

  While ownership in the holy cities remains subject to specific regulatory controls, the new law provides a more clearly defined framework under which foreign participation may be permitted in accordance with applicable requirements.  

  With respect to publicly listed companies, Saudi firms with foreign ownership listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), as well as investment funds and special purpose entities, may own and acquire real property rights in the kingdom, including in Mecca and Medina, subject to compliance with the relevant regulatory framework.

  Registration, compliance and transactional framework

  The new Real Estate Ownership law introduces a structured compliance framework for foreign investors. It provides that all non-Saudis, whether corporations or individuals, are required to comply with applicable registration requirements with the competent authorities prior to owning real estate or acquiring other real property rights in the kingdom.

  The implementing framework sets out procedures that vary depending on the type of investor. For example:

  • Non-resident individuals are required to obtain a valid digital identity profile through the Ministry of Interior’s “Absher” platform, open a Saudi bank account, and obtain a Saudi contact number.
  • Foreign companies are required to register with the Ministry of Investment, ensure that their legal representatives hold valid identification issued in accordance with the kingdom’s regulations, disclose their ownership structures, and open a Saudi bank account.

  Ownership of real estate and the acquisition of related property rights will only be legally recognised once registration has been completed with the Real Estate Register in accordance with the applicable legal provisions. This reinforces transparency and legal certainty within the market.  

  The law also regulates the disposal of property interests. Where a non-Saudi sells, transfers or otherwise disposes of a real property right, a disposal fee capped at 5% of the transaction value is payable to the Real Estate General Authority. This fee applies in addition to any other taxes or charges. The applicable rate may vary depending on the type, purpose and location of the property right, as set out in the relevant regulations.

  Investors should also be aware of the law’s tiered penalty regime. Depending on the nature of the violation, penalties may range from a warning to fines capped at SR10m, with multiple penalties potentially applied for separate breaches.

  The law reflects the kingdom’s continued focus on enhancing the regulatory environment for real estate, within a structure designed to balance market access with appropriate regulatory oversight. For investors and developers, the practical significance of the law lies in the clarity it provides on how foreign ownership can be structured and implemented. In particular, requirements relating to registration, ownership eligibility and permitted use will be key considerations when assessing transactions and investment structures.

  As the implementing framework continues to develop, further detail, particularly in relation to designated geographical areas and the application of ownership rules in specific locations, will be important in shaping how the framework operates in practice.

  More broadly, the law forms part of a wider programme of reforms aimed at supporting the sustainable development of Saudi Arabia’s real estate market and reinforcing its long-term attractiveness for investment, in line with the objectives of Vision 2030.

  

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