meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Contractors submit bids for Taziz’s Project Salt

16 July 2025

Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

Contractors have submitted technical bids to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) for a project to build a cluster of three chemicals-producing plants in the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi.

The three chemicals plants will produce ethylene dichloride (EDC), chlor alkali and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and are part of a scheme known as Project Salt.

The project is among the main investments in the first phase of development for the upcoming petrochemicals derivatives complex by Taziz.

Contractors submitted technical bids for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on Project Salt by Adnoc's deadline of 15 July, according to sources.

The following contractors, among others, are understood to be bidding for Project Salt, sources told MEED:

  • China National Chemical Engineering Company / China Chengda Engineering Company / China Tianchen Engineering Corporation 
  • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
  • Samsung E&A (South Korea)

The previous deadlines for contractors to submit technical and commercial bids for the project were 15 June and 23 July, respectively.

Taziz – a 60:40 joint venture of Adnoc and Abu Dhabi’s industrial holding company ADQ – first announced the EDC, chlor alkali and PVC plants in December 2021. India’s Reliance Industries was named as the main investor in the chemicals plants at the time.

Reliance is understood to have pulled out of Project Salt and has been replaced by France-based Kem One, MEED previously reported.

MEED reported in June last year on the award of front-end engineering and design (feed) contracts for the three chemicals production plants.

Germany-headquartered Thyssenkrupp Uhde won feed contracts for the EDC and chlor alkali plants. France-based Technip Energies won the feed contract for the PVC facility.

The planned EDC plant will utilise chlorine from the associated chlor alkali plant as its main feedstock and will have a production capacity of up to 1.2 million tonnes a year (t/y).

Part of the EDC output will, in turn, be used as feedstock by the PVC plant, which is planned to have a production capacity of 350,000 t/y.

Surplus quantities of EDC and caustic soda from the chlor alkali plant are intended to be exported.

Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone

Since 2021, Taziz has attracted investments from several foreign investors for its planned chemicals projects in the under-construction Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone in Ruwais.

Taziz has planned seven petrochemicals derivatives projects as part of the first phase of its industrial chemicals zone.

UK-headquartered Wood Group has performed the feed works on the seven projects, which are:

Anchor product

End use

Chlor alkali

Water treatment, metallurgy and textiles

Ethylene dichloride

Housing, infrastructure and consumer goods

Maleic anhydride

Piping, construction and heavy transport

Methanol

Energy, consumer goods and pharmaceuticals

Blue ammonia

Agriculture, apparel and energy

Isopropyl alcohol

Healthcare and cosmetics

Elastomers

Automobiles, adhesives, food production and storage

Chemicals production is a priority sector for Operation 300bn, the UAE’s industrial growth strategy.

The strategy is being overseen by the Industry & Advanced Technology Ministry, which aims to raise the UAE industrial sector’s contribution to the national GDP to AED300bn ($81.7bn) by 2031.

In December 2021, Taziz secured agreements from eight UAE-based entities for investments in its planned chemicals projects in Ruwais. The agreements marked the first domestic public-private partnership in Abu Dhabi’s downstream oil, gas and petrochemicals sector.

ALSO READ: Local firms invest in Taziz industrial complex

In addition to the three chemicals plants planned under Project Salt, a joint venture of UAE-based Fertiglobe, South Korea’s GS Energy Corporation and Japanese investment firm Mitsui & Company has invested in a “world-scale” blue ammonia production facility in the Ruwais petrochemicals derivatives complex.

The Fertiglobe/GS Energy/Mistui joint venture awarded Italian contractor Tecnimont the EPC contract for the project in May 2024. Construction on the facility started in June last year.

Separately, in February, Taziz awarded South Korean contractor Samsung E&A the main EPC contract to build the UAE’s first methanol plant in the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone. The value of the EPC contract won by Samsung E&A is $1.7bn, and the duration of works is 44 months.

The nameplate production capacity of the planned methanol complex is 5,000 metric tonnes a day, or 1.8 million metric t/y. Switzerland-based energy and chemicals company Proman is a joint investor in the methanol project.

Regarding infrastructure to support the various projects, Taziz awarded three EPC contracts totalling $2bn in November.

Abu Dhabi government-owned NMDC Group was awarded the EPC contract to build a chemicals port. Once complete, the port will facilitate the export of chemicals and fuels.

Singapore-based Rotary Engineering won the EPC contract for a chemicals terminal known as Project Landing. The contract includes developing storage facilities, tank-to-jetty pipelines, jetty-to-tank pipelines, inter-site pipelines and liquid product storage. Taziz is building the chemicals-handling terminal in partnership with Netherlands-based midstream energy company Advario.

Abu Dhabi-based Al-Geemi Contracting was awarded the EPC contract to develop essential infrastructure for the 17-square-kilometre Taziz chemicals production site, including internal roads, security fencing and buildings.

Contracts have also been awarded for developing a centralised utilities facility for the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone, which will include power transmission, steam, cooling water and water units.

Adnoc signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) in June 2021 to develop a cogeneration power facility in Ruwais. In December, the partners awarded a $1bn contract to Kuwait-based Alghanim International for the project, and the contractor started construction of the facility in February this year.

Alghanim International, in turn, awarded a $67m sub-contract to Riyadh-based water utility developer Water & Environment Technologies Company (Wetico) for the comprehensive water facilities package of the cogeneration power facility, which includes the construction of a seawater desalination plant, demineralisation plant, condensate polishing unit and effluent treatment plant.

ALSO READ: Fertiglobe expects Rabdan final investment decision in 2026

READ THE JULY 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

UAE and Turkiye expand business links; Renewed hope lies on the horizon for trouble-beset Levant region; Gulf real estate momentum continues even as concerns emerge

Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the July 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

> PROJECTS MARKET: GCC projects market collapses
> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects index continues climb
To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14274507/main2617.jpg
Indrajit Sen

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Contractor wins $105m Medina university hospital deal

    22 September 2026

     

    Riyadh-based construction firm Al-Mansouria General Contracting Company has been awarded a SR396m ($105.6m) contract to complete the remaining construction works on the Taiba University Hospital project in Medina.

    The contract scope includes structural completion, remaining civil works, mechanical, electrical and plumbing installations, specialised clinical fit-outs and medical gas infrastructure to bring the long-stalled facility into operation.

    Located on King Khalid Road along Medina’s Third Ring Road, the teaching hospital will have a capacity of 563 beds.

    The contract duration is three years, with delivery targeted for late 2029.

    The latest award follows a prolonged procurement cycle that began more than a decade ago as part of a public budget drive to expand Saudi Arabia’s higher education infrastructure.

    The project’s first phase was initially signed in December 2011 with local firm Al-Muhaidib Contracting under a SR500m ($133.3m) contract.

    Groundbreaking for the eight-storey complex took place in July 2013. The project covers a gross floor area of more than 200,000 square metres.

    Progress stalled shortly thereafter due to reported structural delays and the reallocation of public capital budgets across the kingdom’s social infrastructure pipeline.

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

    Nuclear power ambitions gather pace; Kuwait keeps dealmaking alive despite war; Region invests in raising gas processing capacity.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the September 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19870032/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Oman tenders Thumrait Industrial City infrastructure

    22 September 2026

     

    Oman’s Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn) has tendered an estimated RO15m ($39m) contract to develop infrastructure for Thumrait Industrial City.

    The tender was issued on 14 September, with bids due by 12 November.

    The scope covers site-wide utilities and services, including an internal road network, stormwater channels and culverts. It also includes installing sewerage and water networks, along with landscaping works.

    In addition, Madayn intends to build plug-and-play industrial units and a facilities building.

    The first phase of the development will cover about 120,000 square metres (sq m).

    Thumrait Industrial City is located in Oman’s Dhofar Governorate and spans an area of more than four million sq m.

    The project location is close to concession blocks, quarry sites and the Najd agricultural areas. It is positioned to attract industrial investments in sectors such as mining and minerals processing (including gypsum and cement), food production, and a range of light and general manufacturing activities.

    In March, Madayn said it is preparing to invest more than RO245m ($637m) to upgrade and expand infrastructure across its industrial cities between 2026 and 2030, as part of efforts to attract new investment and advance economic diversification.

    According to media reports, Madayn chief executive Dawood Bin Salim Al-Hadabi said the programme is part of an expanded, phased plan aligned with Oman Vision 2040 and the authority’s long-term Madayn 2040 strategy.

    The objective is to deepen Oman’s industrial base and spread growth across the sultanate’s governorates.

    Madayn said the pipeline comprises about 90 strategic projects to improve industrial-city infrastructure, extend serviced land and increase the overall ease of doing business for investors.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19866218/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Kuwait halves drilling contractor pool

    22 September 2026

     

    State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has reduced the number of approved contractors for onshore drilling and shallow-well maintenance from 51 to 24.

    Firms that are no longer qualified include major contractors such as Italy’s Saipem, Oklahoma-based Helmerich & Payne and Houston-based Patterson-UTI Energy.

    The latest list still includes a wide range of Kuwaiti, regional and international companies, according to the latest update on its electronic system, published on 21 September 2026.

    The full list of contractors that are now qualified to participate in tenders is:

    • Burgan Company for Well Drilling, Trading & Maintenance (Kuwait)
    • Kuwait Drilling Company (Kuwait)
    • Sun Drilling Kuwait (Kuwait)
    • TDL Kuwait for Oil Rigs & Natural Gas Extraction Activities, Services and Facilities (Kuwait)
    • United Precision Drilling (Kuwait)
    • Abraj Energy Services (Oman)
    • Adnoc Drilling Company (UAE)
    • Arabian Drilling Company (Saudi Arabia)
    • Anton Oilfield Services (China)
    • China Oilfield Services (China)
    • Egyptian Drilling Company (Egypt)
    • CNPC Bohai Drilling Engineering Company (China)
    • Great Wall Drilling Company (China)
    • John Energy (India)
    • Kerui Oilfield Service (China)
    • KCA Deutag Drilling (Germany)
    • Mohammed Al-Barwani Petroleum Services (Oman)
    • Nabors Drilling International (US)
    • National Drilling & Services Company (Oman)
    • Sea & Land Drilling Contractors (Oman)
    • Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corporation (China)
    • Karamay Jianye Energy (China)
    • Modern Drilling Company (Egypt)
    • Grey Wolf Drilling International (US)

    An earlier list, which was published on 11 February, included 51 qualified companies.

    The reduction in qualified drilling contractors follows KOC’s notice on 27 April this year, informing existing qualified contractors that they would need to reapply.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19863744/main3435.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Abu Dhabi expects 45% emissions cut as electricity demand rises

    21 September 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) expects carbon emissions from power and water production to fall by more than 45% by 2035 as the UAE expands renewable energy and reverse osmosis (RO) desalination.

    The state offtaker's latest long-term system planning forecasts emissions will decline from about 42 million tonnes in 2019 to approximately 23 million tonnes in 2035.

    The reduction is expected despite annual electricity demand that is forecast to rise by about 70% in 2026-33.

    Ewec said the expansion of renewable energy and the shift towards RO desalination will be the principal drivers of the reduction.

    The company plans to increase Abu Dhabi's solar capacity to 14GW by 2030 and more than 35GW by 2035. This will be supported by up to 15GW of battery storage capacity.

    According to regional project tracker MEED Projects, Ewec has over $16bn-worth of power and water projects in the execution stage as part of its long-term procurement programme to increase renewable energy and low-carbon water production capacity.

    This includes a 5.2GW Abu Dhabi solar and battery energy storage system (bess) round-the-clock renewable energy project, as well as three 1.5GW solar photovoltaic independent power projects (IPP): Al-Ajban, Al-Khazna and Al-Zarraf.

    It also comprises the 1GW Al-Dhafra open-cycle gas turbine power plant, the 2.5GW Taweelah C combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant and a separate 400MW bess IPP.

    As previously reported, it is expected that the developer's agreement for the 3.3GW Al-Nouf 1 CCGT IPP will be signed by the end of the year, while contractors are preparing to submit bids for a separate 2.6GW power plant project in Ajman.

    The expansion of solar and battery storage is expected to reduce the system's reliance on gas-fired generation. However, gas-fired generation will continue to provide flexibility to support the system and balance intermittent renewable power output, according to Ewec. 

    The offtaker also expects RO desalination to account for more than 95% of total water production by 2035, with the procurement programme supporting the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy's Clean Energy Strategic Target 2035 for electricity production and the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategy.

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

    Nuclear power ambitions gather pace; Kuwait keeps dealmaking alive despite war; Region invests in raising gas processing capacity.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the September 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19849749/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Seven bid for Bahrain highway upgrade

    21 September 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Seven contractors have submitted bids for the next phase of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah Highway upgrade project.

    According to results published by the Bahrain Tender Board, the firms that have submitted bids include:

    • Nass Contracting Company
    • Haji Hassan Group
    • Almoayyed Contracting Group
    • Mohammed Abdulmohsen Al-Kharafi & Sons
    • Eastern Asphalt & Concrete Production
    • Cebarco Bahrain
    • Kingdom Asphalt

    The contract scope includes expansion works on 2 kilometres of the highway. It consists of a four-lane dual carriageway with service roads on both sides.

    The scope of works also includes excavation and backfill work, construction of stormwater drainage networks, a pumping station, installation of ducts for future utilities, upgraded street lighting, traffic signs and directional signage.

    The project aims to improve traffic capacity, reduce congestion and enhance safety along the transport corridor linking Manama with industrial zones.

    In April, MEED reported that Bahrain had approved a financing agreement framework to fund the construction of the next phase of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah Highway upgrade.

    In March last year, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and the Bahraini government signed a KD10m ($32.4m) loan agreement to fund the second phase of the project, which is expected to cost about $404m.

    This was followed in September 2025 by the appointment of US-based Parsons Corporation on a $1.5m contract to provide pre-contract engineering consultancy services for the project.

    According to data from regional project tracker MEED Projects, construction of the first phase was completed in 2020.

    A joint venture of local firm Nass Contracting and Kuwait’s KCC Engineering & Contracting undertook the main construction works.

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

    Nuclear power ambitions gather pace; Kuwait keeps dealmaking alive despite war; Region invests in raising gas processing capacity.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the September 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/19847073/main.png
    Yasir Iqbal