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  Egypt’s oil and gas sector shows bright spots

  11 February 2026

  

   

  The discovery of the supergiant Zohr gas field in the eastern Mediterranean by Italian energy major Eni in 2015 created the possibility of Egypt becoming a regional gas hub and a major exporter.

  When Zohr entered production in 2017, Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources said the field would produce 2.7 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) until 2039. However, after rising to a peak of about 3.4 billion cf/d in 2019, output from the offshore field began a steady decline. Reasons cited include early overproduction and Eni and its partners reducing activity in response to Cairo’s delayed arrears and other payments.

  Production at Zohr now stands at about 1 billion cf/d, accounting for roughly a fifth of Egypt’s total gas output. With domestic power demand surging, Egypt has made urgent, concerted efforts to ensure local and international operators ramp up production of both natural gas and crude oil to reduce the country’s import bill.

  In addition, the Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, led by Karim Badawi, is overseeing a major five-year exploration campaign to increase Egypt’s hydrocarbon resources and, in turn, support production growth.

  Exploration drive

  The strategy involves drilling up to 480 wells over the next five years, including 101 wells in 2026 alone. The drilling programme is estimated to require total investment of $5.7bn, with the ministry primarily courting overseas majors.

  Over the past few months, Egypt has secured investments – or at least commitments – from international exploration and production (E&P) companies, including an $8bn pledge from Eni and a plan by the UK’s BP to invest $5bn in the upstream sector.

  In November, Arcius Energy, a 51:49 joint venture of BP and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s (Adnoc) international arm, XRG, signed a deal to acquire the Harmattan gas discovery offshore Egypt.

  As part of the development plan for the prospect, located in the El-Burg offshore concession, Arcius Energy will invest $3.7bn to drill up to three wells and build infrastructure, including a fixed offshore platform connected by a 50-kilometre pipeline to onshore processing facilities near Port Said. Production is expected to start in 2028.

  UAE-based Dana Gas recently reported progress in 2025 on its $100m capital expenditure (capex) plan under a concession agreement it signed with Egypt in late 2024. During 2025, the company drilled four wells and completed a workover programme on three additional wells, adding approximately 30 million cf/d of new production and 36 billion cubic feet of reserves.

  Dana Gas plans to drill a further seven wells in Egypt during 2026 under its capex programme. The first of these, the Daffodil exploration well, was spudded in January.

  Separately, in November, the Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources launched a new bid round for oil and gas exploration in four Red Sea blocks. Run by the state-owned South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) via the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG) digital platform, the round marks the first time Egypt has offered E&P companies a profitability-based production-sharing model.

  Chemical investments

  Beyond the upstream sector, several petrochemical and speciality chemical projects in Egypt have also advanced in recent months. The largest is a planned $2bn project by Egypt-based Anchorage Investments to establish a petrochemicals complex in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone).

  Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), the Suez Canal Authority will take an equity stake in the Anchor Benitoite complex, to be developed in Ain Sokhna in the northwest of the Gulf of Suez.

  The facility will be built on land owned by the Suez Canal Authority. It will include a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit and a polypropylene (PP) plant with a capacity of 750,000 metric tonnes a year (t/y), according to a Suez Canal Authority statement.

  The authority said the facility represents the first phase of a larger project and will support future expansion into downstream and complementary industrial units. Future phases are expected to include integrated chemical facilities, with an estimated investment of about $4.5bn and a targeted output of 1.9 million t/y of chemical products.

  Meanwhile, the Egyptian government is seeking to accelerate an estimated $680m project to develop a new soda ash facility. In November, the cabinet granted the state-owned Egyptian Soda Ash Company a ‘golden licence’ to develop the plant, which will also produce soda ash derivatives.

  A golden licence is a single cabinet approval that consolidates multiple permits into one, in an effort to speed up project delivery. It covers permits relating to land allocation, construction, operation and management.

  The plant is expected to produce 600,000 t/y of soda ash and derivatives, making it one of the largest industrial projects of its kind in the region. The project is being developed on a 1.12 million-square-metre plot in the industrial zone of New Alamein City.

  Last February, China National Chemical Corporation was appointed as the project’s main contractor.

  Separately, China National Chemical Engineering Group Corporation (CNCEC) No. 16 Chemical Construction Co. signed a land purchase agreement with the Suez Canal Authority this February to establish another soda ash manufacturing facility.

  To be developed in three phases in Ain Sokhna, the complex will have the potential to produce up to 30,000 t/y of soda ash.

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  MEED’s March 2026 report on Egypt also includes:

  > GOVERNMENT: Egypt adapts its foreign policy approach
  > ECONOMY & BANKING: Egypt nears return to economic stability
  > POWER & WATER: Egypt utility contracts hit $5bn decade peak
  > CONSTRUCTION: Coastal destinations are a boon to Egyptian construction

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15622570/main.jpg

  Indrajit Sen
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  Dewa extends bid deadline for MBR Solar Park phase seven

  11 February 2026

  

   

  Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has extended the bid deadline for the seventh phase of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park.

  The new bid submission deadline is 1 May.

  This phase will add 2,000MW from photovoltaic solar panels and include a 1,400MW battery energy storage system (bess) with a six-hour capacity, providing a total storage capacity of 8,400 megawatt-hours. 

  Dewa issued the request for proposals for qualified companies and consortiums last November, following the completion of the prequalification process earlier in 2025.

  MEED understands that the companies prequalified to submit main contract bids on the project include:

  • Larsen & Toubro (India)
  • Power China
  • China Construction Eighth Engineering Division
  • Shanghai Electric Group
  • China Machinery Engineering Corporation
  • Acwa (Saudi Arabia) 
  • Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar)
  • Electricite de France (EDF)

  As MEED previously reported, 47 firms submitted their responses to Dewa’s expression of interest request for the contract last March.

  International and regional utility developers, engineering, procurement and construction contractors, and bess suppliers attended an investor roadshow for the project on 9 April.

  French utility developer Engie, Riyadh-headquartered Acwa Power and Alfanar, and the local Amea Power, Etihad Water & Electricity Company and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) were among those that attended the roadshow.

  The project is expected to be commissioned in phases, starting in August 2027.

  The transaction advisory team for the project comprises UK-headquartered Deloitte and US-based CMS and Sargent & Lundy as financial, legal and technical advisers, with Deloitte acting as lead adviser. 

  In February 2024, Dewa and Masdar reached financial close for the 1,800MW sixth phase of the MBR Solar Park, which is expected to cost up to AED5.5bn ($1.5bn).

  Once completed in 2026, the sixth phase will increase the solar park’s total production capacity to 4,660MW.

  Dewa’s 2030 installed capacity target for its flagship solar project is 7,260MW, with a total investment of AED50bn ($13.6bn).

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

  Spending on oil and gas production surges; Doha’s efforts support extraordinary growth in 2026; Water sector regains momentum in 2025.

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

  > AGENDA: Mena upstream spending set to soar > AGENDA: Global upstream spending to grow  > INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED's GCC water developer ranking > INDUSTRY REPORT: Pipeline boom lifts Mena water awards > MARKET FOCUS: Qatar’s strategy falls into place > CURRENT AFFAIRS: Iran protests elevate regional uncertainty > CONTRACT AWARDS: Contract awards decline in 2025 > LEADERSHIP: Tomorrow’s communities must heal us, not just house us > INTERVIEW: AtkinsRealis on building faster > PORTS: DP World underpins Dubai’s economic growth strategy > INTERVIEW: Parsons says projects market will show resilience  > LEADERSHIP: Energy security starts with rethinking waste > LEADERSHIP: Why 2026 is a breakthrough year for Middle East construction

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

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  Mark Dowdall
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  Dubai announces Al-Layan Oasis tourism project

  11 February 2026

  Dubai has announced the launch of the Al-Layan Oasis tourism project in the Al-Marmoon desert area, as part of its AED4bn plan to introduce new tourism-focused developments.

  The project was formally announced by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE.

  The project will span more than 10 million square feet (sq ft), with a lake covering 2.5 million sq ft at the centre.

  The project is divided into four main zones:

  • The Gathering Oasis will feature an open-air cinema, amphitheatre, food truck areas and event spaces.
  • The Family Oasis will offer 28 rest areas, children’s play zones and integrated amenities.
  • The Camping Oasis includes dedicated areas that can accommodate 100 touring vans, as well as a visitor centre.
  • The Recreation Oasis comprises retail outlets and other associated services.

  Mohammed bin Rashid approves Al Layan Oasis development project, a new environmental and recreational destination in the emirate. Spanning one million square metres and featuring a lake covering more than a quarter of a million square metres, the project aims to showcase the… pic.twitter.com/Cxtlb4v7Qu

  — Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) February 10, 2026

  The project includes developing integrated infrastructure and 1,000 parking spaces.

  It also features 14 kilometres of walking and cycling tracks.

  The project is expected to cater to 330,000 visitors annually.

  The project supports the Dubai Countryside and Rural Areas Development Plan and aligns with the objectives outlined in the Dubai Quality of Life Strategy 2033 and the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan.

  The project is an integral part of the Blue and Green Spaces Roadmap 2030, launched by Dubai Municipality at the recently concluded World Governments Summit 2026.

  According to a statement published on Emirates News Agency (Wam), “The plan comprises planting [more than] 1.5 million trees over five years, 45 landscaping and beautification projects, and the addition of 120 new parks covering nearly three million square metres. It also includes 200 sports and recreational spaces seamlessly integrated into the city’s green networks.”

  ---

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

  Spending on oil and gas production surges; Doha’s efforts support extraordinary growth in 2026; Water sector regains momentum in 2025.

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

  > AGENDA: Mena upstream spending set to soar > AGENDA: Global upstream spending to grow  > INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED's GCC water developer ranking > INDUSTRY REPORT: Pipeline boom lifts Mena water awards > MARKET FOCUS: Qatar’s strategy falls into place > CURRENT AFFAIRS: Iran protests elevate regional uncertainty > CONTRACT AWARDS: Contract awards decline in 2025 > LEADERSHIP: Tomorrow’s communities must heal us, not just house us > INTERVIEW: AtkinsRealis on building faster > PORTS: DP World underpins Dubai’s economic growth strategy > INTERVIEW: Parsons says projects market will show resilience  > LEADERSHIP: Energy security starts with rethinking waste > LEADERSHIP: Why 2026 is a breakthrough year for Middle East construction

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

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15622533/main.jpg

  Yasir Iqbal
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  Diriyah awards $191m hotel construction contract

  11 February 2026

  Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

  Saudi gigaproject developer Diriyah Company has awarded a SR717m ($192m) contract for the construction of the One Hotel, located in the Diriyah Two area of the masterplan.

  The contract was awarded to the joint venture of local firm BEC Arabia and Indian contractor Ashoka Buildcon.

  The project has a gross floor area of over 31,000 square metres (sq m).

  The hotel is located in the Media and Innovation District. In November last year, BEC Arabia won an estimated $800m contract to construct the district’s south offices. 

  This project will deliver office spaces for media companies and creative agencies.

  Within the same district, BEC Arabia will also build residential assets on the Manazel Al-Hadawi plots.

  In January, Diriyah Company announced a new joint development agreement with Riyadh-based Midad Development & Real Estate Investment Company to deliver the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences in Diriyah.

  The agreement formalises a partnership to develop the 159-key Four Seasons Hotel Diriyah, alongside the Four Seasons Private Residences, as part of Diriyah’s masterplan, across a total area of 235,938 sq m.

  The project is valued at $827m (SR3.1bn), covering both land acquisition and construction.

  The agreement marks the first major partnership between Diriyah Company and Midad, supporting the delivery of one of nearly 40 luxury hotels planned across Diriyah’s two main masterplans.

  The Diriyah masterplan envisages the city as a cultural and lifestyle tourism destination. Located northwest of Riyadh’s city centre, it will cover 14 square kilometres and combine 300 years of history, culture and heritage with hospitality facilities.

  

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15622503/main.jpg

  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Egypt adapts its foreign policy approach

  10 February 2026

  

   

  Egypt’s policy efforts over the past 12 months reflect a recalibration of the state’s survival strategy amid chronic economic headwinds, security challenges on its borders and a geopolitical landscape of shifting regional alliances and an irresolute US position.

  In response, Cairo is pursuing an increasingly diversified approach to its foreign policy, geared expressly towards economic survival and only minimal geopolitical triage.

  The unifying logic is resilience: preserving economic stability, state authority and external relevance in the face of an increasingly constrained environment of regional instability, negative economic multipliers and shifting global power structures.

  Diplomatic overtures

  At the regional level, Cairo has reinserted itself as a diplomatic actor of consequence, but this activism is best understood as a reaction rather than an expression of regional leadership.

  Cairo’s mediation role in Gaza, particularly following the January 2025 ceasefire, has become the symbolic centrepiece of its foreign policy identity, but its efforts in this area ultimately stem from the conflict’s direct strategic relevance to Egypt.

  By convening an extraordinary Arab summit in March 2025 and advancing its own reconstruction framework, Cairo sought to position itself as a key custodian of Gaza’s next chapter and – more cynically – a potential beneficiary of the post-war process.

  Yet Egypt’s role remains structurally bounded, with Cairo operating less as an agenda-setter than as a facilitator within frameworks principally shaped by US priorities, Israeli security imperatives and Gulf financing.

  In this context, Cairo’s efforts reflect a bid to maintain diplomatic relevance and remain indispensable in a situation where it ultimately lacks decisive influence.

  A similar pragmatic logic shapes Egypt’s posture in the Horn of Africa.

  Faced with the unresolved Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute, Cairo has shifted away from diplomatic and legal confrontation towards alliance-building with Somalia and Eritrea, seeking leverage through regional networks.

  In Sudan, Cairo’s posture reflects a harder security logic. It supports the Sudanese Armed Forces out of a fear – arguably justified – of the outcomes that any further weakening of the central government in Khartoum could bring to Egypt’s borders.

  A fragmented Sudan would threaten not only Egypt’s southern flank, but also its Red Sea trade and Nile water security, compounding its concerns related to the GERD.

  Across the board, the pattern is that Egypt’s engagement is reactive and shaped more by vulnerability and risk aversion than by strategic assertiveness.

  Cairo is therefore an actor that is at once diplomatically present and vocal on regional crises, yet rarely instrumental in shaping events; its diplomacy is structurally constrained by informal allegiances and external dependencies.

  Strategic breadth

  Aside from its broadly cautious posture, Egypt’s foreign policy and domestic economic policy also exhibit deliberate diversification and geopolitical hedging.

  In recent years, Cairo’s fragile position – amid the stymying of Suez Canal revenue flows – has intensified its outreach to diverse political and financial backers, including countries with which it has previously been at odds.

  Although the IMF remains a constant presence in Egypt’s fiscal landscape, the past few years have seen Cairo leverage its relationships with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye to attract billions of dollars in foreign direct investment and financial support.

  The recourse to support from Qatar and Turkiye is particularly notable given Egypt’s diplomatic decoupling from both in 2013 following the ousting of president Mohamed Morsi, whom both countries supported.

  Diplomatic ties with Turkiye were formally severed in 2013, and the relationship worsened in 2014 over Ankara’s support for a rival faction in the Libyan civil war. Cairo then cut ties with Doha in 2017 following the Gulf diplomatic crisis.

  These tensions were gradually eased from 2021: the Al-Ula Declaration rehabilitated relations with Qatar, while back-channel engagement with Turkiye led to the restoration of diplomatic relations in 2023.

  In this light, while the UAE’s $35bn in foreign direct investment and the $5bn in support from Saudi Arabia in 2024 align with past politics, the $7.5bn in support from Qatar in 2025 and the $350m defence deal with Turkiye in 2026 represent the new.

  Cairo is also rapidly expanding its trade ties with China. By May 2025, 2,800 Chinese companies had invested $8bn in Egypt, according to Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and Free Zones. Total Chinese investments, including state-backed loans and development projects, amount to tens of billions of dollars and have consistently placed China as Egypt’s top trade partner over the past decade.

  Egypt’s accession to Brics in 2024 is a natural corollary of its growing ties with China.

  This contrasts with the $1.3bn in annual US military financing, which is conditional on Egypt purchasing and maintaining US-origin defence equipment and – implicitly – on remaining deferential to US and Israeli security concerns regarding Palestine.

  In late 2025, Egypt also secured a €4bn package from the European Union, in addition to a planned $2.3bn disbursement from its $8bn IMF Extended Fund Facility.

  Turning the corner

  The widening breadth of Cairo’s fiscal and financial backers is making it less reliant on any single source of support. While the IMF’s loans and reform programme underpin overall fiscal stability, Egypt’s outreach is increasingly enabling it to tackle outstanding liabilities.

  For instance, Egypt’s Ministry of Finance announced that 50% of the proceeds from a recent $3.5bn land sale to Qatar would be used to service domestic and external debt.

  The financially extractive aspect of Cairo’s foreign relations also represents a clear avenue of success for President Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi’s government, in sharp contrast with its limited ability to shape the geopolitical environment.

  And in the immediate term, it may be all that Cairo needs.

  With growth rising and inflation dropping, Egypt appears to be in a position to claw itself back from the fiscal cliff that has loomed over it for the past two years.

  That would be a significant achievement. And with domestic fortunes secured, Cairo could perhaps turn its attention outward again – towards projecting influence across the region.

  Image: Doha, Qatar – September 15, 2025: Egypt’s President Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi delivering his statement at the Emergency Arab-Islamic Summit to address the Israeli attack on Qatar

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  MEED’s March 2026 report on Egypt also includes:

  > ECONOMY & BANKING: Egypt nears return to economic stability
  > POWER & WATER: Egypt utility contracts hit $5bn decade peak
  > CONSTRUCTION: Coastal destinations are a boon to Egyptian construction

   

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15615533/main.gif

  John Bambridge