Kuwait poised for renewed project activity
29 August 2023
This month’s special report on Kuwait also includes:
> POLITICS: Stakeholders hope Kuwait can execute spending plans
> ECONOMY: Kuwait enjoys sustained non-oil growth
> ENERGY: Kuwait’s $300bn energy target is a big test
> POWER & WATER: Warming erodes Kuwait’s power and water reserves
> BANKING: Kuwaiti banks enter bounce-back mode
> INTERVIEW: Kuwait’s Gulf Centre United sets course for expansion

Higher oil prices are usually the signal for GCC oil exporters to open their wallets and engage in some crowd-pleasing project spending. This was certainly true for Kuwait in 2014, 2015 and 2016, when contract awards activity in the construction and transport sectors soared close to $27bn.
However, the situation is notably different in 2023, due to the country’s long-running political impasse between its parliament and executive body disrupting decision-making.
After witnessing two consecutive years of positive growth in 2020 and 2021, Kuwait’s overall project activity dropped significantly.
The construction and transport projects market saw a decline of about 40 per cent in 2022 to settle at just under $1.7bn as a result of fewer project awards.
So far this year, the country has awarded $1.2bn-worth of contracts in the construction and transportation sectors.
Construction contraction
Construction was the second-largest projects sector in Kuwait last year, with about $627m of contract awards in 2022. In 2023 so far, there have been awards worth about $440m, setting the year on a similar trajectory.
Both of these figures are well below the $1.8bn average annual awards between 2018 and 2022, or the $4bn average annual spend in the five years before that.
As with other project sectors in Kuwait, construction is a victim of a significant curtailing of public project spending in the country as planned schemes have been caught up in the political infighting over expenditure and debt.
The pipeline of planned and unawarded construction projects in the country meanwhile stands at about $22.9bn, with $8.7bn-worth of projects under study, $6.6bn in design and $7.6bn in the bidding phase.
The largest projects are two dredging and reclamation schemes being carried out in anticipation of future developments. The first of these is a $900m scheme under the Ministry of Public Works to prepare the way for phase one of the Mubarak al-Kabeer port development, and the second is a $675m reclamation project as part of Kuwait Oil Company’s (KOC) North & South Kuwait Revegetation Project.
There is also a $400m villa construction project in prequalification as part of phase two of KOC’s Mina al-Ahmadi Township redevelopment scheme.
Public projects worth $1.4bn are in the design stage as part of the development of Sabah al-Salem University’s medical campus. These include a hospital and colleges for medicine and dentistry.
Among the latest projects added to the pipeline are the $8bn-worth of planned real estate developments in the Neutral Zone that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait share.
In July, Gulf Coast Real Estate Development Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, received bids from companies to provide project management consultancy services and invited firms to bid for another contract covering cost consultancy services.
Transport traction
The transport sector had the strongest project activity in Kuwait in 2022, with more than $1bn-worth of awards. This beat the average annual awards total of $800m from 2018 to 2022.
In 2023, there have also been awards worth $800m year-to-date, without accounting for awards in the last four months of the year. The largest projects were for road works and surfacing, led by a $370m scheme for road infrastructure works as part of the Sabah al-Ahmad residential project under the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW).
There are about $28bn-worth of planned transport projects in Kuwait. Of these, about $22.9bn are still in the early stages, $2.3bn in design and $2.8bn in the bidding phase.
The largest project in the bidding stage is a similar road infrastructure project for PAHW, but this time a $1.3bn contract as part of the South Saad al-Abdullah housing scheme.
Also in the bidding phase is a $550m project for the preparation of four rest stops and mixed-used developments along Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah Causeway – a project directly under the Council of Ministers General Secretariat.
There are also 10 tenders from the Ministry of Public Works, worth $726m-$792m, for road and bridge maintenance and stormwater upgrade works in several parts of the country, including the capital city, Hawally, Farwaniya, Jahra and Mubarak al-Kabeer.
In total, between the construction and transport sectors, there are $4.7bn-worth of projects past the prequalification stage and at either the bid submission or bid evaluation stage.
If even half of this value is awarded, 2023 could become the best year for general contractors since 2018. Much of this value is bound up in very large projects, however, and will rest on the resumption of major schemes that in turn could require the go-ahead from parliament.
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Contractors submit bids for key Aramco offshore tenders4 August 2026
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L&T announces major contract win from Adnoc Offshore4 August 2026
Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has announced that it has been awarded a major contract by the offshore business of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Offshore).
Mumbai-headquartered L&T described the order as “ultra-mega”, a term the company uses for contracts valued at more than INR150bn ($1.57bn).
The project will be executed through a consortium, with its subsidiary LTEH Offshore serving as the lead partner, L&T said in a statement on 4 August.
MEED understands that the contract won by L&T relates to an offshore package that forms part of a major Adnoc Offshore project to produce up to 600 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of natural gas by developing the Umm Shaif gas cap in Abu Dhabi.
L&T won the first offshore package of the Umm Shaif gas cap and surface pressure boosting project in a consortium with Saudi Arabia/UAE-based Lamprell, MEED reported in July.
The following contractors have secured the two offshore packages and one onshore package of the Umm Shaif gas cap project, MEED previously reported:
- First offshore package – fabrication of a 30,000-tonne gas compression system: Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India) / Lamprell (Saudi Arabia/UAE)
- Second offshore package – fabrication of another 30,000-tonne gas compression system: McDermott (US)
- Onshore package – EPC of gas inlet and processing systems on Das Island: China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Company (CPECC)
“The project involves the development of multiple offshore facilities. As the lead consortium partner, LTEH Offshore will execute the major share of the project scope, covering engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) of the offshore facilities, in addition to the upgrade of existing facilities,” L&T said in its statement.
“A significant portion of the fabrication work will be undertaken at L&T’s state-of-the-art fabrication yards, leveraging the company’s integrated EPCIC capabilities and extensive track record in delivering large and complex offshore developments across the region,” the Bombay Stock Exchange-listed company added.
Umm Shaif gas cap project
Adnoc Offshore operates the Umm Shaif hydrocarbons development, which is located 150 kilometres (km) northwest of the city of Abu Dhabi. The field is located within Abu Dhabi’s offshore Umm Shaif and Nasr hydrocarbons concession, previously operated by former Adnoc Group companies Adma-Opco and Zadco.
In March and April 2018, Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) awarded a 10% stake in the Umm Shaif and Nasr offshore block to Italy’s Eni, 20% to France’s TotalEnergies and 10% to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Adnoc Group retained the majority 60% interest. The operators produce a total of about 460,000 b/d of oil from the Umm Shaif and Nasr block.
Adnoc, along with its foreign partners, announced achieving a final investment decision (FID) worth $6.2bn on the Umm Shaif gas cap project on 21 July. The FID includes three EPC packages totalling $5.1bn for large-scale offshore infrastructure, “awarded to consortiums comprising major UAE and international contractors,” the state enterprise said without disclosing the contractors it had selected or the scope of work on the packages.
Adnoc added that, as part of the FID, it has also awarded a $365m contract to its subsidiary Adnoc Drilling for a 14-well drilling and integrated drilling services scope, to be delivered over 18 months using three existing rigs.
Production from the development is expected by 2030, the Abu Dhabi energy giant said.
The primary objective of the Umm Shaif gas cap and surface pressure boosting project is to increase gas production by 550 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) and raise associated condensate output by 50,000 barrels a day (b/d).
Adnoc Offshore intends to feed about 520 million cf/d of the additional produced gas into Adnoc Group’s sales gas grid.
Adnoc Offshore is understood to have issued the main EPC tender for the Umm Shaif gas cap and surface pressure boosting project in the first quarter of 2025.
Contractors submitted technical bids for the three EPC packages by the 30 October deadline last year, while commercial bids were submitted by the deadline of 2 February this year.
The following contractors are among those understood to have been bidding for the three EPC packages, according to sources:
Offshore package 1:
- Saipem (Italy) / Seatrium (Singapore)
- Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India) / Lamprell (Saudi Arabia/UAE)
- NMDC Energy (UAE) / Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)
Offshore package 2:
- China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC)
- McDermott (US)
- Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India) / Lamprell (Saudi Arabia/UAE)
- NMDC Energy (UAE) / Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)
Onshore package:
- Archirodon (Greece)
- China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Company (CPECC)
- Engineering for the Petroleum & Process Industries (Enppi; Egypt)
- Galfar Emirates (UAE branch of Oman’s Galfar Engineering & Construction)
- Target Engineering Construction Company (UAE)
Australian firm Worley has performed front-end engineering and design (feed) work on the project.
Gas is produced from the Umm Shaif Khuff and Uweinat reservoirs, as well as from the Arab C and Arab D Early Production Scheme 2. The Umm Shaif Khuff reservoir is a formation that consists of dry gas volumetric reservoirs located in the Umm Shaif field.
Khuff reservoirs have been in production in Abu Dhabi since August 1989. Umm Shaif Khuff gas is currently produced from 28 active wells within the Umm Shaif field. A majority of these wells supply gas to Adnoc Group subsidiaries Adnoc LNG and Adnoc Gas Processing, with the rest supporting oil reservoirs at the Umm Shaif field through gas injection.
The Umm Shaif Super Complex (USSC) processes and transports oil, condensates and natural gas in separate pipelines to Das Island for further processing and export. The condensates collected from the USSC are transported to Das Island through an 18-inch pipeline stretching 34.4km, or are spiked into the 36-inch Adnoc main oil line.
The gas collected from the USSC is transported to Das Island through two 46-inch pipelines, which also run 34.4km.
Pressure at the Umm Shaif Khuff gas reservoirs will start to decline by the end of 2028. The flowing wellhead pressures at some of the Khuff gas wellhead towers are likely to reduce, so boosting well deliverability and increasing the flowrates is necessary.
Therefore, new Khuff surface pressure boosting facilities are required to maintain the plateau – with a goal of achieving a 90% gas recovery factor – and increase production beyond the end of the plateau by lowering pressure at the Khuff reservoirs.
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Masdar renews $300m revolving credit facility4 August 2026
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The company said the refinancing strengthens its liquidity position and overall balance sheet resilience as it works towards its target of reaching 100GW of renewable energy portfolio capacity by 2030.
According to Masdar, the lending syndicate comprises 14 banks from Europe, four from the US and seven from Asia.
Masdar’s renewable energy portfolio reached 65GW earlier this year, placing the company about two-thirds of the way towards its 100GW target by 2030. Of that, Masdar said 45GW is operational, under construction or has reached final close, while a further 20GW comprises projects in advanced stages of development.
The company has said it plans to deploy a further $30bn-$35bn in equity and project finance by 2030 to achieve its capacity target, adding an average of 10GW of new capacity each year.
The next phase of growth will be funded through a combination of equity, green bonds and long-term project finance.
Last month, Masdar reached financial close on its $6.1bn round-the-clock renewable energy project in Abu Dhabi, securing a $5.1bn financing package from a consortium of 13 local and international banks.
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Jordan awards EPC contract for Maan wind farm4 August 2026
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Chinese contractor wins Saudi power and gas contracts4 August 2026
Chinese contractor Ningxia Power Construction has announced it has won two contracts in Saudi Arabia covering power and gas infrastructure projects with a combined value of about RMB280m ($39m).
The awards cover the third phase of cable laying and connection works for Saudi Aramco’s Master Gas System (MGS-III) project and the first phase of a 380kV transmission line for the Red Sea Aluminium project, the company said in a statement.
The MGS gas booster station contract covers electrical, instrumentation and control, communications, pre-commissioning, commissioning and defect rectification works.
The project is located northwest of Al-Mendassah in Medina Province. Construction is scheduled to last 670 days and continue through to partial mechanical completion and mechanical completion.
The Red Sea Aluminium contract involves the first phase of a 380kV overhead transmission line project.
The scope includes eight new transmission circuits. Four incoming double-circuit lines will extend about 15.2 kilometres from the connection point to the switchyard. Four outgoing double-circuit lines will run about 0.2 kilometres from the switchyard to the aluminium plant power station. Provision has also been made for two additional outgoing circuits in the future.
The Red Sea Aluminium complex is a planned integrated aluminium production facility in Yanbu Industrial City being developed by Red Sea Aluminium Holdings (RSAH), a joint venture of Innovation Global Industries, Innovation New Materials and Shandong Innovation Group
In June, RSAH awarded China’s Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation (Sepco) an estimated $100m engineering, procurement and construction contract for a 380kV overhead transmission line project at the Red Sea Aluminium complex.
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Contractors submit bids for key Aramco offshore tenders4 August 2026

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Contractors in Saudi Aramco’s Long-Term Agreement (LTA) pool of offshore service providers have submitted bids for five offshore tenders covering the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of structures at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa, Marjan, Safaniya and Zuluf offshore oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabia.
The tenders are numbers 167, 168, 169, 170 and 171 on Aramco’s Contract Release and Purchase Order (CRPO) system, according to sources.
Aramco issued the five CRPOs to its offshore LTA contractors in December, setting an initial bid submission deadline of 3 February.
The Saudi energy giant has since extended the bid submission deadline several times – to 31 March, 1 June, 1 July and then 30 July – to allow LTA contractors sufficient time to prepare proposals.
At the request of certain bidders, Aramco granted a final two-day extension, with LTA contractors submitting their proposals for the five CRPOs on 1 August, sources told MEED.
The basic scope of EPCI work on the tenders is as follows:
- CRPO 167 – eight jackets at the Marjan field development
- CRPO 168 – four production deck modules (PDMs) at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa and Safaniya fields
- CRPO 169 – three PDMs at the Marjan field development
- CRPO 170 – three PDMs at the Marjan field development
- CRPO 171 – three PDMs at the Zuluf field development
Offshore contract awards
Aramco spent almost $11bn on offshore EPCI contracts last year, more than double its capital expenditure on offshore projects in 2024, marking another year of robust upstream project spending in Saudi Arabia.
In July, Aramco selected contractors for five CRPOs – numbers 150, 157, 158, 159 and 160 – worth over $3bn. These involve EPCI work and infrastructure upgrades at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa, Marjan and Zuluf offshore fields.
The Saudi energy giant then picked contractors for four more CRPOs that are part of the large-scale project to expand infrastructure at the Zuluf offshore field development. The tenders are CRPOs 145, 146, 147 and 148, and their combined value is estimated to be almost $6bn.
In late December last year, Italian contractor Saipem announced securing contracts for CRPOs 162 and 165. The scope of work on CRPO 162 covers the EPCI of two rigid pipelines – a 30-inch pipeline stretching 23.98 kilometres (km) and a 20-inch pipeline, 10.23km-long; replacement of a flexible 10-inch pipeline that spans 5.1km; and modification work on topsides at the Berri and Abu Safah field developments. The duration of this contract is 32 months, Saipem said.
The scope of work on CRPO 165, lasting 12 months, includes subsea interventions at the Marjan field development and the EPCI of 300 metres of onshore pipeline and associated tie-ins.
In early January 2026, MEED reported that Aramco had selected US-based McDermott International for CRPO 166. The scope of work is understood to have been carved out of the $15bn Marjan offshore field development project, under which Aramco issued contracts for 20 EPCI packages in 2019. McDermott won the largest share of work on the project, securing an estimated $4.5bn of contracts across two packages.
The contract for CRPO 166 was single-sourced to McDermott without a competitive tendering process and issued as a change order, sources told MEED.
Aramco then awarded its second offshore contract of the year, CRPO 156, to Saipem. The scope of work covers the EPCI of a 48-inch trunkline, spanning roughly 65km offshore and 12km onshore, from the Safaniya offshore oil field to the onshore processing facility, plus associated works such as subsea hook-ups.
CRPO 156 comprises the third package in Aramco’s latest expansion phase at Safaniya – the world’s largest offshore oil field, with a production capacity of nearly 1.2 million barrels a day (b/d). Discovered in 1951, the field is located in Gulf waters approximately 265km north of Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran.
MEED also reported that Saipem was selected by Aramco for two more tenders as part of the Safaniya field development expansion phase – CRPOs 154 and 155. The combined contract value for CRPOs 154 and 155 is estimated at $600m, sources said.
In April, state-owned China Offshore Oil Engineering Company won CRPO 161, which covers the EPCI of four gas jackets at the Arabiyah, Hasbah and Karan offshore fields.
Healthy contract award pipeline
Looking ahead, in addition to CRPOs 167-171, which are currently under bidding, Aramco is evaluating bids submitted by its offshore LTA contractors in July and August last year for at least two additional tenders.
These are CRPOs 163 and 164, relating to the EPCI of infrastructure at the Abu Safah, Berri, Karan, Marjan and Safaniya fields.
Separately, the offshore LTA contractors are also bidding for a new tender – CRPO 176 – that was issued by Aramco in May, according to sources.
The scope of work on CRPO 176 covers the EPCI of seven flexible subsea pipelines with a combined length of 17km at the Berri and Marjan offshore field developments.
Aramco’s LTA pool of offshore service providers comprises the following entities:
- Saipem (Italy)
- McDermott International (US)
- Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH, India) / Subsea7 (UK)
- NMDC Energy (UAE)
- Lamprell (UAE/Saudi Arabia)
- China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (China)
- Dynamic Industries (US)
- Sapura Energy (Malaysia)
- TechnipFMC (France) / MMHE (Malaysia)
- Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)
In April 2025, Aramco renewed its LTAs with the following contractors, whose contracts had either lapsed or were close to expiry:
- Saipem
- McDermott International
- Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon / Subsea7
- NMDC Energy
- Lamprell
- China Offshore Oil Engineering Company
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