Related Articles

• 
  Dubai to award $15bn of Al-Maktoum airport contracts this year

  16 June 2026

  Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP) will award contracts worth over AED55bn ($15bn) by the end of this year for construction works at Al-Maktoum International airport.

  According to a statement published by the Emirates News Agency (Wam), the projects slated for contract awards include “the substructure works for the Western Passenger Terminal, the fourth aircraft concourse building, the automated people mover (APM) system and the baggage handling system, in addition to the superstructure works for the Western Passenger Terminal and the first, second and third aircraft concourses”.

  “The packages also encompass the long-span structural frameworks for buildings covering an area of about 1.5 million square metres (sq m), infrastructure works for the southern airfield area, as well as power generation and district cooling plants supporting the construction programme,” the statement added.

  “The award of facade and roofing packages is also planned during the course of this year,” said Suzanne Al-Anani, CEO of DAEP.

  DAEP has already awarded contracts valued at about AED13bn, with construction works currently under way on several airport packages. These include enabling works, the second runway, and the initial structural foundations for passenger terminals and gates.

  Construction progress

  In May last year, MEED exclusively reported that DAEP had awarded a AED1bn ($272m) deal to UAE firm Binladin Contracting Group to construct the second runway at the airport.

  The enabling works on the terminal are also ongoing and are being undertaken by Abu Dhabi-based Tristar E&C.

  Construction on the project’s first phase is expected to be completed by 2032.

  Construction on substructure works began in November last year, when DAEP formally selected a contractor to deliver the package.

  The government approved the updated designs and timelines for its largest construction project in April 2024.

  In a statement, the authorities said the plan is for all operations from Dubai International airport to be transferred to Al-Maktoum International within 10 years.

  According to an official description on DAEP’s website, the expanded airport’s West Terminal will be a seven-level, 800,000-square-metre facility with an annual capacity of 45 million passengers.

  It will be the second of three terminals at Al-Maktoum International airport, linked to the airside by a 14-station APM system.

  In September 2024, MEED exclusively reported that a team comprising Austria’s Coop Himmelb(l)au and Lebanon’s Dar Al-Handasah had been confirmed as the lead masterplanning and design consultants on the expansion of Al-Maktoum airport.

  The airport’s construction is planned to be undertaken in three phases. The airport will cover an area of 70 square kilometres (sq km) south of Dubai and will have five parallel runways, two terminal buildings, seven concourses and 430 aircraft gates

  It will be five times the size of the existing Dubai International airport and will have the world’s largest passenger-handling capacity of 260 million passengers a year. For cargo, it will have the capacity to handle 12 million tonnes a year.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17289093/main.jpg

  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Eleven contractors bid for Yanbu seawater cooling project

  16 June 2026

  

   

  Eleven contractors have submitted bids for a contract to build a seawater cooling system in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia.

  The estimated $70m project is being developed by the Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu (RCJY).

  The project involves the construction of a seawater supply and re-cooling pipeline system serving industrial operations in the petrochemical area. The scheme is intended to reduce the need for individual cooling facilities at separate sites.

  The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was tendered on 8 March, and bids were submitted on 9 June.

  The bidders include:

  • Al-Fateh International Company for Water & Electricity (Saudi Arabia)
  • Al-Yamama Company (Saudi Arabia)
  • Alsaad General Contracting (Saudi Arabia)
  • Aqua Arabia Water Company (Saudi Arabia)
  • China Harbour Engineering Company (China)
  • Masco Group (Saudi Arabia)
  • Mofarreh Alharbi & Partners (Saudi Arabia)
  • Saad Ali Al-Essa Group (Saudi Arabia)
  • Saudi Services for Electro Mechanic Works (Saudi Arabia)
  • Sayegh Group of Companies (Saudi Arabia)
  • Union General Contractor (Saudi Arabia)

  The scope of work includes seawater intake structures and screening facilities, a pumping station, manholes and valves, a control building, seawater pumps, strainers and inlet and outlet headers.

  The contract also covers the installation of cooling water supply and return transmission pipelines, as well as a discharge outfall and diffuser system.

  According to MEED Projects, RCJY has awarded construction contracts for three seawater cooling projects in 2026.

  Mofarreh Alharbi & Partners secured a $40m seawater cooling system project in Jubail 2, while China Geo-Engineering Corporation won a contract to upgrade the seawater cooling network in Ras Al-Khair Industrial City.

  Local firm Bin Jarallah Group of Companies was also awarded a contract to expand the seawater cooling network in Jubail’s Plaschem Area.

  Meanwhile, Beijing-headquartered China Harbour Engineering Corporation is continuing construction on another project for RCJY.

  The project comprises a seawater cooling system catering to Jizan City for Primary & Downstream Industries. Commissioning is expected later this year.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17288985/main.gif

  Mark Dowdall
• 
  Kuwait awards oil services contract

  16 June 2026

  National Petroleum Services Company (Napesco) has secured a contract worth KD11.94m ($38.8m) to provide cementing and associated services for drilling and workover operations on unconventional wells in Kuwait.

  The contract has been awarded by the state-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) and has a five-year term, according to a statement from Napesco.

  Under the agreement, Napesco will provide integrated cementing solutions designed to support well integrity, optimise drilling performance, and enhance operational efficiency across the client’s unconventional exploration and production programme.

  Kuwait’s oil and gas sector is currently in the midst of a major crisis as disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has dramatically reduced the volume of exported crude oil.

  The disruption to shipping is also creating significant challenges to construction projects in the oil and gas sector, which normally import equipment and materials through the Strait of Hormuz.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17218811/main1619.jpg

  Wil Crisp
• 
  HKN Energy starts to operate Syria’s Rmeilan oil fields

  16 June 2026

  

   

  Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

  US-based HKN Energy is starting operations on the ground at Syria’s Rmeilan fields in Al-Hasakah Governorate, according to industry sources.

  The development comes as Syria is trying to fast-track the conversion of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed with oil companies to concrete contracts.

  Speaking at a conference in Washington on 9 June, the chief executive of state-owned Syria Petroleum Company (SPC), Youssef Qablawi, said that HKN had recently converted an MoU into a finalised deal and was preparing to start operations in Syria.

  Qablawi did not mention which assets HKN would be operating in Syria, but sources say it is starting operations on the ground at the Rmeilan fields.

  Some work related to the company’s activities in Syria is currently being carried out in HKN’s office in Erbil, in the Kurdish region of Iraq, sources said.

  The Syrian government took control of the Rmeilan oil fields earlier this year after a military operation.

  The group of fields is considered to be one of Syria’s largest oil assets and contains more than 1,300 oil wells.

  The field is said to have produced up to 120,000 barrels a day (b/d) before civil war broke out in Syria in 2011.

  Output later fell by nearly 85% after hundreds of wells went offline, either due to war damage or lack of maintenance.

  Prior to the military operation by Syria’s army earlier this year, the field was held and administered by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

  Foreign interest in Syria’s oil and gas sector is growing as the government moves to revive the industry and elevated global energy prices improve the economics of new developments.

  A series of agreements signed in recent months has attracted some of the world’s largest energy companies, raising expectations that investment and production could accelerate.

  New deals

  Speaking at the conference in Washington earlier this month, Qablawi said he was planning to sign a contract with ConocoPhillips today, 16 June.

  He said it would be the largest contract signed by SPC since its establishment in October last year.

  Qablawi also said he hoped to convert an MoU with the US-based oil company Chevron into a signed contract before the end of July.

  Qablawi said the country was forecasting increases in both oil and gas production and predicted it would produce 1 million b/d by 2030.

  The chief executive said that previously unexplored blocks in the country held “huge” reserves that could be developed.

  Chevron is interested in making investments in onshore production in the country, according to Qablawi.

  Downstream projects

  Syria is planning several downstream projects.

  Under current plans, the country’s Baniyas refinery will be shut down for major maintenance in July.

  The maintenance will dramatically increase the refinery’s capacity to 130,000 b/d, according to Qablawi.

  Currently, it is operating at a rate of 90,000-95,000 b/d.

  The refinery is expected to be brought back online in October this year.

  Syria is also planning to develop a new refinery, which will produce more than 200,000 b/d, and is expected by SPC to come online within four years.

  Under current plans, the front-end engineering and design (feed) for the new refinery will start in the fourth quarter of this year.

  “Syria will be exporting refined products within three years [of starting the feed],” Qablawi said. “After we have finished the construction of the new refinery.”

  Gas development

  In April, SPC signed a formal contract with Saudi Arabia’s ADES to increase gas production in central Syria.

  The contract is focused on developing five central gas fields:

  • Abu Rabah
  • Qamqam
  • North Al-Faydh
  • Al-Tiyas
  • Zumlat Al-Mahar

  The deal aims to increase Syria’s domestic gas production by up to 50% within a year.

  Speaking on 9 June, Qablawi said that ADES was mobilising for that project.

  Pipeline planning

  Syria is involved in several major pipeline projects, including plans to restore the pipeline from Kirkuk in Iraq to Baniyas in Syria.

  Qablawi said that under current plans, the contracts for this pipeline would be tendered using the build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract model.

  “We are going to pick the best company for Syria to construct this pipeline,” he said.

  Syria has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract for an extension to the existing Arab Gas Pipeline.

  The new section extends 185 kilometres from Aleppo to Homs and is being fully funded by SPC.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17218785/main.jpg

  Wil Crisp
• 
  Dubai extends deadlines for Jebel Ali sewage treatment plants

  16 June 2026

  

   

  Dubai Municipality has extended the deadlines for two major water infrastructure projects at Jebel Ali, according to sources.

  The first involves the expansion of the Jebel Ali sewage treatment plant (STP) phases one and two, which is being delivered under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model.

  Contractors have been given until 25 June to submit offers to design, build and commission an upgraded facility, estimated to cost $300m.

  The facility will be capable of treating an additional sewage flow of 100,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d). The previous deadline was 11 June.

  Located on a 670-hectare site in Jebel Ali, the original wastewater facility has a treatment capacity of about 675,000 cm/d following the completion of phase two in 2019, combining approximately 300,000 cm/d from phase one and 375,000 cm/d from phase two.

  The main element of the expansion involves modifications to the secondary treatment process at Jebel Ali STP phase two.

  UK-headquartered KPMG and UAE-based Tribe Infrastructure are serving as financial advisers on the project.

  Phase 3 PPP

  The second and larger of the two projects involves the Jebel Ali STP expansion – phase 3.

  The DS150/3 project will be delivered under a public-private partnership (PPP) model on a design, build, finance, own, operate and transfer basis.

  Dubai Municipality issued a request for qualifications in May, with an initial deadline of June 18. That deadline has been extended to 16 July, a source said.

  The project involves the development of a new water resource recovery facility with a treatment capacity of up to 1 million cm/d.

  It is being procured through Dubai Municipality’s Sewerage and Recycled Water Projects Department and will be delivered through a two-stage operational approach over a 30-year concession period.

  UK-headquartered Deloitte is acting as financial adviser, Aecom as technical adviser and CMS as legal adviser.

  Dubai Municipality said the project will also include additional land uses and community-focused amenities as part of broader sustainability and urban integration objectives.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17212607/main.jpg

  Mark Dowdall