Hydrocarbons exploration rebounds
1 March 2023
MEED's upstream oil & gas report also includes: Energy security facilitates upstream spending

The world, and particularly countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, remains undeterred in its quest to find more oil and gas resources, despite headwinds from energy transition activity and falling long-term hydrocarbons demand forecasts.
Last year, the global oil and gas exploration sector had its strongest year in more than a decade. In its effort to improve portfolios by adding lower-carbon, lower-cost advantaged hydrocarbons, the sector created at least $33bn of value and achieved full-cycle returns of 22 per cent, at $60-a-barrel Brent prices, according to a recent report from Wood Mackenzie.
Julie Wilson, director of global exploration research at Wood Mackenzie, says 2022 was “a standout year for exploration”.
“Volumes were good, but not stellar. However, explorers were able to drive very high value through strategic selection and by focusing on the best and largest prospects.
“The discoveries bring higher-quality hydrocarbons into companies’ portfolios, allowing them to reduce carbon by displacing less advantaged oil and gas supplies while also meeting the world’s energy needs.
“The highest value came from world-class discoveries in a new deepwater play in Namibia, as well as resource additions in Algeria and several new deepwater discoveries in Guyana and Brazil, where the latest wave of pre-salt exploration finally met with success,” she says.
“The average discovery last year was over 150 million barrels of oil equivalent, more than double the average of the previous decade,” she adds.
The exploration sector continues to be dominated by national oil companies (NOCs) and majors, with QatarEnergy, France-headquartered TotalEnergies and Brazil’s Petrobras leading the way in net new discovered resources in 2022, according to Wood Mackenzie. In total, NOCs and majors accounted for almost three-quarters of new resources discovered, the research consultancy said.
Qatar’s overseas footprint
In addition to raising gas production capacity from the North Field gas reserve and carrying out a liquefied natural gas (LNG) output expansion programme, QatarEnergy has been pursuing an overseas offshore oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) campaign in recent years.
The state enterprise has been investing in expanding its international upstream footprint, particularly in the gas space. In the past five years, QatarEnergy has acquired interests in gas-rich offshore blocks in Angola, Guyana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Argentina, Mozambique, Morocco, Cyprus, Mexico, Brazil, Oman, Suriname and Canada.
In December, QatarEnergy won an offshore exploration block in Brazil in a consortium with TotalEnergies and Malaysia’s Petronas. QatarEnergy will hold a 20 per cent working interest in the Agua-Marinha production sharing contract, with TotalEnergies holding 30 per cent and Petronas Petroleo Brasil holding 20 per cent. Brazil’s state energy producer ANP will be the operator of the block, with a 30 per cent interest.
QatarEnergy also recently acquired a 30 per cent interest in exploration blocks four and nine off the coast of Lebanon. TotalEnergies is the operator of the blocks, holding a 35 per cent interest, with Italy’s Eni owning the remaining 35 per cent.
Oman E&P arena
Oman hosts the most foreign hydrocarbons E&P companies in the GCC. Majors such as BP, Shell and TotalEnergies have been present in the sultanate since the early 20th century, while smaller international upstream players have also been looking for – and producing – oil and gas for the past three decades.
The majority state-owned Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) operates the sultanate’s biggest and most prolific hydrocarbons concession, block six. The smaller oil and gas concession areas are operated by firms headquartered overseas such as Eni, Occidental Petroleum, Tethys Oil and Maha Energy, as well as by local firms such as ARA Petroleum, Majan Energy & Petroleum and Musandam Oil & Gas Company.
Oman’s Energy & Minerals Ministry signed a concession agreement in December 2021 with a consortium led by Shell’s Oman subsidiary, Shell Integrated Gas Oman, to develop and produce natural gas from block 10 of the Saih Rawl gas field.
The consortium comprises Omani state energy enterprise OQ and Marsa LNG, a joint venture of France’s TotalEnergies and OQ. The concession agreement established Shell as the operator of block 10.
By late January, Shell had started producing gas from the Mabrouk North East field located in block 10.
In September last year, the Omani energy ministry signed another E&P agreement with Shell and France’s TotalEnergies to develop block 11, which is located adjacent to block 10 and is understood to be rich in natural gas reserves.
Shell and TotalEnergies will own 67.5 per cent and 22.5 per cent stakes in block 11, respectively, with OQ holding the other 10 per cent. Shell is the operator with the majority stake in the concession.
UAE makes strides
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has completed two upstream concession licensing rounds in the past
four years, attracting oil and gas producing companies from the US, Italy, Pakistan, India, Thailand and Japan to explore for resources.
Offshore block two, which is operated by Italian energy major Eni with Thailand’s state-owned PTT Exploration & Production Public Company (PTTEP), has so far yielded two discoveries with combined estimated reserves of up to 3 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas.
In addition, in May last year, Adnoc announced the discovery of 650 million barrels of onshore crude oil reserves in Abu Dhabi, which increased the UAE’s hydrocarbons reserves base to 111 billion stock tank barrels of oil and 289 tcf of gas.
Adnoc also awarded Malaysia’s Petronas a six-year concession agreement in December to explore and appraise oil in unconventional onshore block one, deemed to be the Middle East’s first unconventional oil concession.
In Sharjah, Eni won stakes in all three upstream concession areas offered by Sharjah National Oil Company (SNOC) to international investors in the emirate’s first competitive hydrocarbons block bidding round, launched in June 2018.
In January 2019, Eni successfully secured 75 per cent, 50 per cent and 75 per cent stakes in SNOC’s concession areas A, B and C, respectively.
Then, in October last year, PTTEP acquired a 25 per cent stake from Eni in area A, as a result of which Eni’s share in all three concession zones is now at 50 per cent.
Sharjah’s oil and gas fortunes reversed in January 2021, when SNOC, together with its partner Eni, announced the start-up of the Mahani 1 gas well. This marked the commencement of gas production from the Mahani field, located in area B, the first such onshore hydrocarbons discovery made in Sharjah in 37 years.
Energy security facilitates upstream spending
Bahrain labours on
Bahrain announced the discovery of the large Khalij al-Bahrain offshore hydrocarbons basin – estimated to contain 80 billion barrels of oil and 10-20 trillion cubic feet of gas – in April 2018.
Nearly five years later, Manama has been unable to make significant progress on the commercial appraisal of the oil and gas resources base. However, the lack of success with Khalij al-Bahrain has not deterred the country from continuing its exploration elsewhere.
In November, state energy conglomerate Nogaholding announced the discovery of natural gas in the two reservoirs of Al-Jawf and Al-Juba. The gas deposits are unconventional and situated in the Khuff and Unayzah geological formations.
Mena players make progress
Iraq, Opec’s second-largest oil producer, continues to seek more hydrocarbons resources in its territory. As recently as in February, the Oil Ministry awarded six oil concessions as part of the country’s fifth licensing round.
Three E&P concessions – one in Basra and two in Diyala governorates – were awarded to UAE-based Crescent Petroleum. Three others, also in Basra and Diyala, were awarded to China’s Geo-Jade Petroleum.
Eni’s discovery of the large Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean waters in 2015 elevated Egypt’s status as a significant upstream market globally, and the country’s government intends to continue to attract more E&P players on the back of this success.
Egypt’s hydrocarbons reserves spiked in 2022 with 53 new oil and gas discoveries: 42 oil wells and 11 gas wells, according to the Petroleum & Mineral Resources Ministry. The discoveries were made in Egypt’s Western Desert region, the Suez Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile Delta.
So far in 2023, US-based Chevron, which operates the Nargis offshore concession in the East Mediterranean, together with its partners Eni and Egypt’s Tharwa Petroleum, has announced a discovery of Miocene and Oligocene gas-bearing sandstones.
At the start of this year, Egypt also launched an international licensing round for exploration rights in the Nile Delta and the Mediterranean, comprising 12 onshore and offshore blocks.
“There is a lot of uncertainty in future long-term demand scenarios for oil,” says Wilson.
“Explorers are accelerating oil exploration to meet near- and mid-term demand, while gas exploration was focused in geographies that can supply the gas-hungry European market. In some cases, major leases are approaching the expiration of the exploration term and companies are pushing to optimise their value.”
She concludes: “By 2030, fast-tracked development of these new discoveries could deliver 1 million barrels a day in oil and half a million barrels a day of equivalent gas production, generating $15bn in free cash flow.”
Exclusive from Meed
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Israeli offensive leaves Beirut in limbo5 June 2026
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Morocco tenders Falit dam project5 June 2026
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Kuwait prepares to tender refinery project deal5 June 2026
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Kuwait tenders downstream consultancy contract5 June 2026
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Israeli offensive leaves Beirut in limbo5 June 2026

Lebanon is being held in economic and political limbo by Israel’s open-ended offensive in the south, which has killed more than 3,500 people since March and is characterised by strategic objectives that offer no clear end in sight.
Political leaders in Tel Aviv are justifying the operation on the grounds of eliminating Hezbollah – a far‑fetched goal against a dispersed guerrilla organisation, as with Hamas in Gaza – while ignoring overtures from Lebanon’s leadership for a ceasefire.
The recently formed Lebanese government, meanwhile, continues to look impotent: unable to secure its territory from Israeli incursions or Hezbollah activity, and unable to deliver on promises of stability, reform, IMF funding and reconstruction.
Echoes of the past
The overarching shape of Israel’s military campaign is ominously familiar, echoing the 1978, 1982, 1985 and 2006 Israeli invasions of southern Lebanon – all entailing creeping encroachment without strategic resolution.
Since fighting resumed on 2 March 2026, Israeli forces have gradually pushed north, crossing north of the Litani for the first time since the 2006 Lebanon war and seizing Beaufort Castle above Nabatieh on 31 May.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has framed the goal as establishing a “security zone” – the same term and concept Israel used to justify the occupation of a roughly 800-square-kilometre belt of southern Lebanon from 1985 to 2000.
That occupation was a debacle for Israel’s military and ended in unilateral withdrawal.
Israeli analysts are already drawing the modern parallels as the cost of holding ground in southern Lebanon rises, driven by Hezbollah’s deployment of cheap fibre‑optic first‑person‑view (FPV) drones that inflict a steady drip of Israeli casualties and losses.
As with Russia in Ukraine, Tel Aviv is being tactically embarrassed by the advent of these fibre‑optic drones, which are immune to jamming and – of particular concern to Israeli forces – are too small to be reliably detected and intercepted by conventional counter‑drone systems.
This leap in Hezbollah’s operational threat – based on cheap technology that can be locally assembled – has sharply raised the price of maintaining a military presence in the country.
In an attempt to exact a retaliatory price, Israel’s air strikes rose by 110% between 19-22 May and 23-26 May as Hezbollah’s drone successes accumulated, according to conflict monitor Acled. But the underlying tactical dilemma remains.
Israeli politicians, irate at the situation, have demanded escalation and intensified strikes on civilian areas, including in Beirut – only to face US pushback.
Tehran as the lever
Planned strikes on Beirut, including on 3 June, have been held off in recent weeks under pressure from Washington after Tehran made Lebanon a bargaining chip in its wider negotiations with the US, repeatedly suspending talks following Israeli escalation in the Levant country.
Tehran has also gone further than walkouts, warning it could respond directly if Israel strikes Beirut – adding an explicit threat of retaliation to diplomatic pressure.
With a Gulf ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz both riding on the outcome, Washington is strongly motivated to keep Israel from striking Beirut.
In this way, Iran is one of the few powers wielding any leverage over Israel’s actions in Lebanon – even if that leverage is a source of discomfort for Lebanon’s leaders, for whom Tehran’s clout contrasts starkly with their own lack of influence.
That protection nevertheless remains narrowly tied to the Lebanese capital, with Washington turning a blind eye to Israel’s ongoing destruction of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon’s south.
Within the border belt that Tel Aviv has dubbed the “yellow line” – amounting to about 7% of Lebanese territory – Israeli forces have accelerated the demolition of villages since the April truce and barred residents from returning.
More than a million people, overwhelmingly Shia from the south and the Bekaa, have been displaced since March, and UN human-rights experts have pointed to the blanket evacuation orders and levelling of housing as mirroring Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
The Lebanese state remains trapped in inaction, partially of its own making. Beirut was initially close to indifferent to renewed strikes on Hezbollah, whose unilateral re-entry into the war it had condemned for endangering the state.
But as the strikes have shifted methodically towards civilian areas, Beirut’s restraint satisfies no one: the domestic audience wants protection, while Israel and the US want decisive Lebanese army action against Hezbollah.
Yet the Lebanese army – still adhering in spirit to the November 2024 ceasefire framework and loath to move seriously against Hezbollah for fear of stoking civil war – has remained aloof from the conflict.
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is close to Hezbollah and maintains dialogue with the group, says it would honour a genuine ceasefire if only Washington could deliver one.
But repeated attempts to shore up the ceasefire have remained conditional on the Lebanese army stepping up to rein in Hezbollah, while failing to guarantee an end to Israel’s destruction of civilian structures in areas it is occupying.
On 3 June, a fourth round of US‑mediated trilateral talks produced a fresh ceasefire announcement, hailed in Washington as a step towards comprehensive peace.
Yet its conditions – a complete halt to Hezbollah fire, the group’s withdrawal south of the Litani and Lebanese army control of undefined “pilot zones”– merely reiterate past failed protocols. The declaration was unsigned by Hezbollah and unenforceable by Beirut.
Within hours, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected the declaration, stating that any ceasefire must cover the south and begin with Israeli withdrawal, not Hezbollah’s.
Both Israeli strikes and Hezbollah attacks have continued since the ostensible deal.
Recovery on hold
The economic cost to Lebanon, meanwhile, compounds by the day. The country entered 2026 already in crisis: cumulative GDP down close to 40% since 2019, the pound down 98%, public debt at 150% of GDP, and reserves as low as $11bn as of June 2025.
The government of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam staked its credibility on a long‑deadlocked IMF programme finally unlocking external support. The war has upended this, driving away investment and delaying reform.
The World Bank’s November 2024 assessment – covering only the previous round of fighting, before the March resumption – placed the economic cost at $14bn and recovery needs at $11bn, figures that the current war is now inflating by the day.
Lebanon’s Bank Audi has warned of zero growth this year if the war continues, versus a pre‑escalation projection of reconstruction‑led recovery. Tourism, historically a fifth of the economy and the engine of the 2024 rebound, has been the biggest casualty.
Looking ahead, no reconstruction can be financed while the destruction continues, and no IMF programme can advance while the state cannot ensure stability.
Iran’s leverage may be keeping the bombs off Beirut, but the south’s entrenchment as a war zone is only deepening – with hopes for recovery receding further with every village levelled.
While the costly occupation is imposing a rising political price on the Israeli government that may, in time, bring it to an end, this will be little consolation for those displaced – many of whom now have no communities to return to, and homes built over decades that are gone.
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Morocco tenders Falit dam project5 June 2026
Morocco’s Ministry of Equipment & Water has opened an international tender for the construction of the Falit dam in Figuig province.
According to local media reports, the project has an estimated budget of MD428m ($46m), with commissioning expected between 2029 and 2030.
The bid submission deadline is 15 July.
The dam will be built on the Moulouya River north of Bouarfa in eastern Morocco. The roller-compacted concrete structure will be 59 metres high and have a storage capacity of 25 million cubic metres.
The project is intended to provide drinking water supplies, support agricultural irrigation and enhance flood protection in the region.
Figuig is one of Morocco’s driest regions. It is also vulnerable to flash floods caused by sporadic but intense rainfall events.
Reported ministry data indicates that annual flows at the project site can reach 40.8 million cubic metres in wet years. Long-term average flows are estimated at about 10.3 million cubic metres a year.
The dam will include a spillway and a bottom outlet equipped with a 1,500-millimetre pipe. The outlet will have a discharge capacity of 28 cubic metres a second and will allow the reservoir to be emptied within 15 days if required.
Morocco dam infrastructure
The Figuig region is also home to the Kheng Grou dam project, which is designed to have a storage capacity of 1.07 billion cubic metres.
According to regional project tracker MEED Projects, the dam is on track to be completed by the end of the year.
Morocco-headquartered Bioui Travaux is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the project, valued at $96m.
Another local firm Novec is acting as the main contractor on the project.
The Falit dam tender comes as Morocco continues to invest in new dams, desalination plants and water transfer schemes to address growing pressure on water resources.
The country currently has over $13bn-worth of dam projects under construction, the largest of which is the Ratba dam project in the province of Taounate.
Construction is also set to begin on the $238m Bou Ahmed Dam project, covering 259 hectares, in the province of Chefchaouen. According to MEED Projects data, this was the only major dam contract awarded last year.
The joint venture of Societe Generale des Travaux du Maroc and Stam Morocco, a subsidiary of the TGCC group, will carry out EPC works on the project.
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Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the June 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Gulf races to reroute trade> EXPORT ROUTES: Regional war boosts oil and gas pipeline project activity> CURRENT AFFAIRS: UAE’s Opec departure fulfils multiple ends> MEED TOP 100: Middle East stocks recover unevenly> LEADERSHIP: Building the infrastructure that makes net zero possible> TRADE DEAL: UK-GCC trade deal talks concludeTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17120660/main.jpg -
Saudi Energy commissions 2.5GW battery storage project5 June 2026
Saudi Energy, formerly Saudi Electricity Company, has commissioned a major 2.5GW battery energy storage project across five regions in Saudi Arabia.
The project, which serves power grids in Riyadh, Rabigh, Dawadmi, Jouf and Qassim, completed all grid-tied charging and discharging tests at the end of May, said Chinese supplier NR Electric in a statement.
National Grid Saudi Arabia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Energy, awarded Saudi firm Alfanar Company and China’s BYD Energy Storage the contract to build and install five battery energy storage system (bess) facilities with a total combined installed capacity of up to 2,500MW, equivalent to a rated capacity of up to 12,500 megawatt-hours, in January 2025.
Alfanar was appointed as the project’s engineering, procurement and construction contractor, while BYD Energy Storage was responsible for the design, supply, supervision of installation, testing and commissioning, and maintenance of the bess plants.
The 12.5 gigawatt-hour (GWh) project is the world’s largest grid-scale energy storage deployment, requiring 2,364 system cabinets in total.
NR Electric said it supplied the project’s grid-forming control technology and more than 2,000 power conversion system units.
The main applications for the planned bess facilities include load shifting, black start, frequency regulation and voltage support.
They are expected to replace part-load operation of existing power plants by charging and discharging electricity according to system load variations and primary and secondary reserves, among other potential applications.
Shenzhen-based BYD previously announced that the five bess plants would take its total deployments in Saudi Arabia to about 15.1GWh.
It deployed its bess products on Saudi Arabia’s first on-grid bess plant in Bisha, one of 17 projects globally with a capacity of over 1GWh that entered operations in 2024.
> Be recognised among the best in the industry at the MEED Projects Awards 2026 …
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Kuwait prepares to tender refinery project deal5 June 2026
State-owned downstream operator Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has announced that it is preparing to tender a contract to develop a gauging system for a tank farm at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery.
The system will replace an older, now obsolete system at the South Liquid Tank Farm.
The contract will include engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning of the new gauging system.
KNPC is planning to invite 24 companies to participate in the bidding process.
These are:
- JGC Corporation (Japan)
- Almeer Technical Services Co. (Kuwait)
- CTCI Corporation (Taiwan)
- Kellogg Brown & Root (US)
- Kentz Overseas (UAE)
- IMCO Engineering & Construction Company (Kuwait)
- National Petroleum Construction Company (UAE)
- Sinopec Luoyang Engineering (China)
- Sinopec Engineering Incorporation (China)
- Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)
- SK Ecoplant (South Korea)
- Gulf Spic General Trading & Contracting Company (Kuwait)
- Hyundai Engineering (South Korea)
- Enppi (Egypt)
- Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
- Saipem (Italy)
- Technip Energies (France)
- Larsen & Toubro (India)
- Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corporation (South Korea)
- Sinopec Engineering Group (China)
- Samsung E&A (South Korea)
- Daewoo Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
- Fluor (US)
- Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)
If a company has not been included in the list and would like to participate in the tender, it can file a complaint with the chairman of Kuwait’s Higher Purchase Committee within 30 days.
The Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery has been attacked and damaged as part of the regional war that broke out after the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.
Several units were shut down at Kuwait’s largest oil refinery after it was hit by drones and fires broke out in the morning of 20 March 2026.
The refinery normally processes about 730,000 barrels of oil a day.
Kuwait’s oil and gas sector has been severely disrupted by the ongoing regional conflict, which has led to a dramatic drop in crude exports via the Strait of Hormuz.
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Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the June 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
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Kuwait tenders downstream consultancy contract5 June 2026
State-owned downstream operator Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has tendered a consultancy contract focused on a liquid sulphur degassing facility for four sulphur recovery units at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery.
This type of unit removes dissolved hydrogen sulphide and other sulphur compounds from molten sulphur before it is stored, loaded onto trucks, or exported.
This makes the sulphur safer to handle and reduces emissions.
A total of 21 companies have been invited to participate in the tender.
These are:
- Asprofos Single Member Engineering Societe Anonyme (Greece)
- Enereco (Italy)
- EPC Constructions India (India)
- Engineering for the Petroleum & Process Industries (Enppi) (Egypt)
- Gulf Spic General Trading & Contracting Company (Kuwait)
- Heavy Engineering Industries & Shipbuilding Company (Kuwait)
- ILF Consulting Engineers (Austria)
- Larsen & Toubro (India)
- Litwin PEL (UAE)
- Mott MacDonald (UK)
- National Petroleum Construction Company (UAE)
- Penspen International (UK)
- Petro6 Engineering & Construction (India)
- Petrocil Engineers & Consultants Pvt. (India)
- PL Engineering (India)
- Processes Unlimited (US)
- Tebodin (Netherlands)
- Technip Energies France (France)
- Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)
- Triune Energy Services (India)
- Toyo Engineering Corporation (Japan)
A pre-tender meeting for the project is scheduled for 8 June 2026, and the bid closing date is 25 June 2026.
The Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery has been attacked and damaged as part of the regional war that broke out after the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.
Several units were shut down at Kuwait’s largest oil refinery after it was hit by drones and fires broke out in the morning of 20 March 2026.
The refinery normally processes about 730,000 barrels of oil a day.
Kuwait’s oil and gas sector has been severely disrupted by the ongoing regional conflict, which has led to a dramatic drop in crude exports via the Strait of Hormuz.
READ THE JUNE 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFGCC looks beyond the Strait; Iraq’s reform window narrows as fiscal assumptions shatter; MEED Top 100 companies.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the June 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Gulf races to reroute trade> EXPORT ROUTES: Regional war boosts oil and gas pipeline project activity> CURRENT AFFAIRS: UAE’s Opec departure fulfils multiple ends> MEED TOP 100: Middle East stocks recover unevenly> LEADERSHIP: Building the infrastructure that makes net zero possible> TRADE DEAL: UK-GCC trade deal talks concludeTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17119564/main.gif
