Related Articles

• 
  Dubai launches Blue Line metro tunnelling works

  4 May 2026

  Dubai has announced the launch of tunnelling works for the Dubai Metro Blue Line extension project.

  In a post on X, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, announced the start of operations of the tunnel boring machine (TBM), which the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has named ‘Al-Wugeisha’.

  The TBM is 163 metres long, weighs more than 2,000 tonnes and will operate around the clock. The post added that its average excavation rate ranges from 13 to 17 metres a day.

  The Blue Line will connect the existing Red and Green lines. It will be 30 kilometres (km) long, with 15.5km underground and 14.5km above ground.

  The line will have 14 stations, seven of which will be elevated. There will be five underground stations, including one interchange station, and two elevated transfer stations connected to the existing Centrepoint and Creek stations.

  In December 2024, the RTA awarded a AED20.5bn ($5.5bn) main contract for the construction of the project to a consortium comprising Turkiye’s Limak Holding and Mapa Group, along with the Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC).

  The consortium is responsible for all civil works, electromechanical works, rolling stock and rail systems. After completing the project, it will assist with maintenance and operations for an initial three-year period.

  According to an official statement, the Blue Line will have a capacity of 46,000 passengers an hour in both directions.

  The project is scheduled for completion in September 2029.

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Firms submit Jeddah distribution centre bids

  4 May 2026

  

   

  Contractors submitted bids on 26 April for an estimated SR140m ($37m) contract to build a distribution centre in Jeddah.

  Saudi Logistics Services Company (SAL) launched the tender on 11 March, as previously reported by MEED. The project will cover an area of about 37,000 square metres. Egyptian firm Cosmos-E Engineers & Consultants has been appointed as the project consultant.

  This tender follows the start of construction by Egyptian contractor Rowad Modern Engineering, a subsidiary of Elsewedy Electric Group, on the expansion of SAL’s facilities at King Khalid International airport in Riyadh. The scope of work includes rehabilitating and upgrading existing infrastructure, as well as constructing new supporting facilities and services.

  SAL also launched the tendering process in September last year for its SR4.2bn ($1bn) logistics zone in northern Riyadh, MEED previously reported. UAE-based Global Engineering Consultants is the consultant for that development.

  The logistics hub aims to meet demand for customised warehouses near King Khalid International airport and the Riyadh Metro. The project aligns with Vision 2030 and the National Transport & Logistics Strategy, which aims to strengthen the kingdom’s logistics sector and enhance Saudi Arabia’s position as a global logistics hub.

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Concerns increasing about delays to Iraq oil project

  4 May 2026

  

   

  Concerns are increasing among contractors about potential delays to PetroChina’s planned project to upgrade key infrastructure at Iraq’s Halfaya oil field, according to industry sources.

  The project, estimated at $200m, focuses on upgrading the utility system for the facility known as central processing facility 2 (CPF2).

  The project was tendered under the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract model, and bids were submitted on 20 December 2025.

  One source said: “Bid evaluation is ongoing for this project. No decision has been made on the award and there are increasing concerns that there could be delays due to ongoing regional tensions.”

  Iraq’s oil and gas sector has been severely impacted by disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.

  Speaking on 2 May, Iraq’s deputy oil minister ​Basim Mohammed said that the country was producing 1.5 million ​barrels a day (b/d), down from about 4.3 million b/d before the US and Israel attacked Iran.

  Halfaya is one of the Iraqi fields whose production has been significantly reduced.

  On 5 March, MEED revealed that Iraq had prepared a sweeping four-part emergency plan for a large-scale oil-field shutdown to address the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

  The second phase of the plan involved reducing production at Iraq’s Halfaya field by 50%.

  The scope of work for the project to upgrade the utility system at CPF2 includes:

  • Fresh water system modification
  • Oily water transfer facilities
  • A 3. 20” crude oil header replacement
  • Power plant fuel gas system upgrade
  • A new wet gas line from CPF1 to CPF2
  • A high-pressure fuel gas connection line
  • Backup cable installation
  • Adding process and utility facilities
  • Providing civil, structural and architectural services
  • Adding a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system
  • Piping, power supply and distribution infrastructure
  • Instrumentation and anti-corrosion systems

  Halfaya is located in the Maysan Governorate in southeastern Iraq and is one of the country’s seven giant oil fields.

  The field is operated by a partnership led by PetroChina, a subsidiary of CNPC. The partnership also includes France’s Total, Iraq’s state-owned South Oil Company and Malaysia’s Petronas.

  Projects to develop the Halfaya gas field have seen significant delays in recent years. Halfaya is the Maysan province’s largest field, with estimated reserves of 4.1 billion barrels.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16664182/main5635.jpg

  Wil Crisp
• 
  Kuwait recorded zero crude exports during April

  4 May 2026

  Kuwait recorded zero crude oil exports in April for the first time since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, according to shipping monitor TankerTrackers.com.

  The country’s oil and gas sector has been severely impacted by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which all of its crude exports are normally shipped.

  While the maritime monitoring service did not record any official exports via sea routes, it is possible that a small volume of crude may have been moved by truck to refineries in neighbouring countries.

  TankerTrackers.com said Kuwait used some crude production in its refineries, but could not export oil.

  The national oil company Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) declared force majeure due to the disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz on 7 March.

  On March 10, Kuwait reduced output to around 500,000 barrels a day (b/d), down from more than 3 million b/d before the outbreak of the US-Iran war.

  The disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is severely impacting the country’s economy.

  Kuwait has one of the least diversified economies in the region, with oil export sales typically accounting for roughly 90% of its government revenues and total exports.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16664181/main.jpg

  Wil Crisp
• 
  UAE’s Opec departure fulfils multiple ends

  1 May 2026

  

   

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  The UAE announced its withdrawal from Opec on 28 April, ending a membership that predates the country itself: Abu Dhabi joined the producer group as an emirate in 1967, four years before federation.

  The exit is being presented, including by Abu Dhabi itself, as a clean strategic choice driven by energy ambition and national interest.

  The official framing is plausible. But there is a range of UAE interests at work, and much to question about the relative weight of these and the timing of the move.

  Structural rift

  The production case is the most structurally legible. Adnoc has invested $150bn over the past six years to raise capacity by nearly 40% to 4.85 million barrels a day (b/d), targeting 5 million b/d by 2027 – yet under Opec+, the UAE was constrained to a quota of 3.4 million b/d, leaving it pumping close to 30% below what it was capable of producing.

  The underlying economics motivate the UAE to pursue volume over price.

  The UAE’s fiscal breakeven oil price also sits at just under $50 a barrel according to IMF estimates, against Saudi Arabia’s inflection point closer to $90 – a structural gap unconducive to a unified policy.

  This generates mismatched motives that have been visible since the 2021 Opec+ standoff in which Abu Dhabi publicly broke with Riyadh over its baseline quota and began to engage in persistent overproduction.

  Sitting uncomfortably alongside this is the expanding Saudi-UAE rift, with the two countries now diverging on Yemen, Sudan, normalisation with Israel and posture toward Iran – all while actively competing for capital, talent and regional commercial primacy.

  On the day of the withdrawal, Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei told Reuters that the Opec decision was taken after a review of production policy alone, and that the UAE did not raise the issue with other countries before announcing it.

  The same day, the GCC summit in Jeddah was attended by every member’s head of state except the UAE’s – with Abu Dhabi sending its foreign minister instead.

  The absence of prior regional consultation and the UAE’s subsequent non-attendance at a key GCC summit is an indictment of the nadir to which the group’s internal relations have sunk over the regional response to the recent conflict.

  Speaking at the Gulf Influencers Forum in Dubai on 27 April, presidential adviser Anwar Gargash described the GCC’s response to Iranian retaliation as “the weakest historically”.

  UAE-US alignment

  The UAE’s loss of confidence in the GCC contrasts with its aspirations for relations with the US, which Abu Dhabi has only sought to bolster since the crisis, with Minister for International Cooperation Reem Al-Hashimy stating that the UAE would “double down” on its alliance with Washington.

  Despite the central US role in instigating the Iran conflict, the UAE-US alignment has become such a strong undercurrent of Emirati foreign policy – building on decades of progressive policy work – that doing otherwise is perhaps unthinkable.

  And US President Donald Trump has long attacked Opec as a price-inflating cartel and linked US military support for Gulf states directly to their oil pricing behaviour. An exit from Opec by the UAE therefore yields the added bonus of aligning with a US administration that has made lower oil prices a clear policy objective.

  Also central to this is the artificial intelligence (AI) investment pact sealed with President Trump during his visit in May last year – committing to a 10-year, $1.4tn investment framework with the US, spanning AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy and manufacturing, with access to advanced chips as a central prize.

  The UAE’s latest sovereign vehicle, MGX, spun out of Mubadala and ADQ, is supporting the US’ $500bn Stargate venture (budgeted at $100bn in the first phase) as an anchoring partner alongside OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank, as well as through its participation in the $40bn BlackRock-led acquisition of Aligned Data Centres.

  In this context, removing the UAE’s quota constraints will only lend further liquidity to Abu Dhabi’s strategic repositioning around AI chip and data-centre infrastructure.

  Judicious timing

  While the UAE’s Opec exit was not caused by the current logistical constraints in the Strait of Hormuz, they influenced the timing.

  Since the UAE’s west-east oil pipeline capacity is limited to around 1.8 million b/d, it cannot physically flood the market with oil, so the near-term price implications are structurally bound.

  This has blunted the impact and the potential diplomatic fallout that could have arisen from an exit at a price-sensitive time for the global energy market. The timing of the UAE’s move is therefore carefully calibrated for minimal present impact but maximum long-term gain when current conditions end.

  The longer-term structural consequences for Opec are a different matter. The UAE was one of only two members, alongside Saudi Arabia, with meaningful spare capacity, and its departure leaves the group with fewer tools to manage the market.

  In the wake of the UAE’s departure, both Kazakhstan and Nigeria have been flagged as candidates to follow. Opec thus faces a future of further fragmentation and ever-diminishing leverage over global energy prices.

  Even as the move increases broader energy market uncertainty, however, it may reduce uncertainty for the UAE.

  Opec negotiations are unpredictable and characteristically subject to the geopolitical mood. Outside of the group, Abu Dhabi’s production trajectory becomes a known quantity – gradual, measured and tied to its infrastructure rather than the outcome of the next Opec meeting.

  So while the motives behind the UAE’s exit are multiple, they are mutually reinforcing. Production ambition, diverging fiscal calculi, strained bilateral relations, US alignment and a repositioning around AI all converge not as competing explanations, but as reasons that have collectively made membership dispensable.

  They are also all layers of a singular decision that has been building for years – executed at a moment of reduced collateral cost into a market that is too disrupted to react.

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  John Bambridge