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  Firms submit bids for Maaden gold project water pipeline

  17 July 2025

  

  Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) has received proposals from local firms for a water pipeline network it plans to build as part of a larger project to develop a new gold mining and processing facility in the Al-Rjum region of the kingdom.

  The Al-Rjum gold mining and processing facility, located in Medina province, is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2027. It will become the largest gold mining operation in Saudi Arabia when operational.

  According to sources, the pipeline is to be developed using a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works will have a duration of 38 months, followed by a 20-year operations and maintenance period.

  Lamar Holding and Alkhorayef are understood to be the only bidders for the proposed Taif to Al-Rjum water pipeline, which forms package B of the Maaden gold mining project.

  The two contractors submitted bids for the water pipeline project on 1 July, sources told MEED.

  The main scope of work involves building a 150-kilometre pipeline that will supply treated sewage effluent water to the Al-Rjum gold mining facility.

  ALSO READ: Saudi Arabia issues mining exploration licences

  The Al-Rjum gold mining and processing facility will have an output capacity of 250,000 ounces of gold a year. The project will increase Maaden’s total gold production to 700,000 ounces a year by 2028, helping the company support Saudi Arabia’s overall goal of doubling gold production by 2030 and achieving a four-fold increase in output by 2040.

  MEED recently reported that Maaden had received bids for a tender to develop accommodation facilities for over 4,500 of its workers at the upcoming Al-Rjum gold mining and processing facility.

  Bids for the Al-Rjum worker accommodation tender, which is also under the BOOT model, were submitted in late June. The operations and maintenance period for this contract is 15 years.

  ALSO READ: Saudi Arabia and Oman open up their minerals potential

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  Indrajit Sen
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  Bahrain and US sign nuclear energy agreement

  17 July 2025

  Bahrain and the US have signed a cooperation agreement covering the field of peaceful nuclear energy.

  The agreement aims to enhance collaboration in nuclear energy, recognising its vital role in sustainable development and energy security. It aligns with Bahrain's ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 and contributes to global efforts to combat climate change.

  As Bahrain explores alternative energy sources, senior officials have previously indicated to MEED that they are closely monitoring developments in small modular reactor (SMR) technology. This is particularly crucial for Bahrain, where limited land availability poses challenges for solar energy projects. Floating solar plants have been identified as a potential solution, but the exploration of nuclear energy and SMRs remains a priority for future energy diversification.

  The agreement was signed during an official visit to the US by Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the crown prince and prime minister of Bahrain.

  The agreement was formalised by Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Bahrain’s minister of foreign affairs, and Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state.

  Al-Zayani added that the agreement builds upon the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement (C-SIPA) signed in 2023. The agreement aims to strengthen cooperation in defence, security, emerging technologies, trade and investment.

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  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:

  > AGENDA: UAE-Turkiye trade gains momentum > INTERVIEW 1: Building on UAE-Turkiye trade > INTERVIEW 2: Turkiye's Kalyon goes global > INTERVIEW 3: Strengthening UAE-Turkiye financial links > INTERVIEW 4: Turkish Airlines plans further growth > CURRENT AFFAIRS: Middle East tensions could reduce gas investments > GCC REAL ESTATE: Gulf real estate faces a more nuanced reality > PROJECTS MARKET: GCC projects market collapses > INTERVIEW 5: Hassan Allam eyes role in Saudi Arabia’s transformation > INTERVIEW 6: Aseer region seeks new investments for Saudi Arabia > LEADERSHIP: Nuclear power makes a global comeback > LEVANT MARKET FOCUS: Levant states wrestle regional pressures > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects index continues climb > CONTRACT AWARDS: Mena contract award activity remains subdued > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects > OPINION: A farcical tragedy that no one can end

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

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  Colin Foreman
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  Algeria awards $855m contract for gas production project

  17 July 2025

  Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

  Algeria’s national oil and gas company Sonatrach has awarded an $855m contract to China’s Jereh Group for a project to develop facilities at the Rhourde Nouss gas field.

  Jereh Group said that its subsidiary Jereh Oil & Gas Engineering will build a natural gas booster station in the Rhourde Nouss gas field and upgrade and renovate related transmission pipelines.

  The Yantai-based company cited a letter of award from Sonatrach and said that the contract will boost the company's footprint in North Africa’s oil and gas engineering service sector.

  The Rhourde Nouss boosting project will centralise the boosting of natural gas produced by the gas field and the adjacent Gassi Touil gas field, to improve their production efficiency and natural gas processing capacity, the company said.

  Sonatrach, the largest gas producing company in Africa and the largest state-owned enterprise in Algeria, will pay $629.1m and $226m for the construction of the project, Jereh said.

  Jereh's growing footprint

  Jereh has been expanding overseas in recent years and has won contracts with major Middle Eastern oil and gas clients, including Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

  In June 2021, the company was awarded a contract for the design, procurement and construction of a gas debottlenecking project in Algeria.

  The project was located in the Bir Rebaa Nord and Rhourde Ouled Djemma fields, which are located in the eastern Algerian desert, about 300 kilometres southeast of Hessi Messaoud.

  The client on that project was Groupement Sonatrach Eni, a joint venture of Sonatrach and Italian energy company Eni.

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  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:

  > AGENDA: UAE-Turkiye trade gains momentum > INTERVIEW 1: Building on UAE-Turkiye trade > INTERVIEW 2: Turkiye's Kalyon goes global > INTERVIEW 3: Strengthening UAE-Turkiye financial links > INTERVIEW 4: Turkish Airlines plans further growth > CURRENT AFFAIRS: Middle East tensions could reduce gas investments > GCC REAL ESTATE: Gulf real estate faces a more nuanced reality > PROJECTS MARKET: GCC projects market collapses > INTERVIEW 5: Hassan Allam eyes role in Saudi Arabia’s transformation > INTERVIEW 6: Aseer region seeks new investments for Saudi Arabia > LEADERSHIP: Nuclear power makes a global comeback > LEVANT MARKET FOCUS: Levant states wrestle regional pressures > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects index continues climb > CONTRACT AWARDS: Mena contract award activity remains subdued > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects > OPINION: A farcical tragedy that no one can end

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

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14278458/main.jpg

  Wil Crisp
• 
  Riyadh Expo appointments are the launchpad for construction

  17 July 2025

  Commentary
  Colin Foreman
  Editor

  It has been nearly two years since Saudi Arabia was selected as the host country for the World Expo 2030.

  The vote was effectively the starting gun for the region’s largest and most challenging construction projects. The event will be hosted at a purpose-built venue on the outskirts of Riyadh, which is expected to require billions of dollars in construction spending and, perhaps more importantly, must be completed in time for the Expo’s opening in 2030.

  Apart from a few high-level meetings with various stakeholders, there had been little update on the project since November 2023.

  One of the key issues was the entity responsible for delivering it. That question was answered in June when the Public Investment Fund (PIF) launched Expo 2030 Riyadh Company (ERC) as a wholly owned subsidiary to build and operate facilities for Expo 2030.

  A few days later, Talal Al-Marri was appointed as the CEO of the new entity.

  Now, in July, US-based Bechtel has announced its appointment as the project management consultant (PMC) for the Expo.

  These important updates serve as the launchpad for construction to begin. With the project leadership now established, attention can shift to actual construction. MEED recently reported that contractors have submitted bids for a contract to build the site offices required for initial construction works at the Expo site.

  The pace of tendering and contract awards will ramp up sharply over the next two years. Experience from Dubai, which hosted Expo 2020, shows that after being initially selected for the event, a period of about two years follows as bureaucratic structures are established. It is worth noting that Dubai appointed its PMC team, comprising UK-based Mace and US-based CH2M (now part of Jacobs), in December 2014.

  Construction activity then quickly ramps up, and in the case of Dubai, over $5bn of Expo-related contracts were awarded during the 2016-18 period.  

  For Riyadh, which is hosting the event exactly 10 years later, there will need to be a similar value and volume of work awarded during 2026-28 if the project is to be finished in time for 2030.

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  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:

  > AGENDA: UAE-Turkiye trade gains momentum > INTERVIEW 1: Building on UAE-Turkiye trade > INTERVIEW 2: Turkiye's Kalyon goes global > INTERVIEW 3: Strengthening UAE-Turkiye financial links > INTERVIEW 4: Turkish Airlines plans further growth > CURRENT AFFAIRS: Middle East tensions could reduce gas investments > GCC REAL ESTATE: Gulf real estate faces a more nuanced reality > PROJECTS MARKET: GCC projects market collapses > INTERVIEW 5: Hassan Allam eyes role in Saudi Arabia’s transformation > INTERVIEW 6: Aseer region seeks new investments for Saudi Arabia > LEADERSHIP: Nuclear power makes a global comeback > LEVANT MARKET FOCUS: Levant states wrestle regional pressures > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects index continues climb > CONTRACT AWARDS: Mena contract award activity remains subdued > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects > OPINION: A farcical tragedy that no one can end

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

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14281675/main.jpg

  Colin Foreman
• 
  Study complete for Kuwait chemicals project

  17 July 2025

  

   

  Kuwait’s state-owned Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) has completed feasibility studies for a planned olefins plant in the country, according to industry sources.

  The project, known as Olefins IV, is estimated to be worth $500m, according to MEED Projects. PIC is a subsidiary of state energy conglomerate Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC).

  “The feasibility studies went well and have been completed,” according to a source.

  Olefins IV is expected to use natural gas produced by upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), another KPC subsidiary.

  “PIC is currently waiting for confirmation of the volumes of gas that will be available for the project as feedstock,” another source told MEED. 

  “The volumes that will be available are dependent on projects that KOC is developing.

  “The timing of the olefins project needs to be coordinated with when the new gas volumes are expected to come online.

  “There is availability of gas, but the quantities need to be confirmed and finalised,” the second source said.

  There is currently uncertainty at PIC about when the front-end engineering and design work for the project will commence, but sources expect more clarity once the gas volumes have been confirmed.

  As part of PIC’s long-term strategy, which looks ahead to 2040, it is aiming to scale up its portfolio and leverage partnerships to add value.

  The company has stated that it aims to expand its core portfolio both within and outside Kuwait through greenfield and brownfield projects, with the goal of achieving a leading global position.

  It has also said that it wants to expand into downstream derivatives linked to its base petrochemicals portfolio.

  Chinese chemicals

  Earlier this year, Wanhua Chemical Group Company signed an equity subscription agreement in which PIC subscribed to a 25% equity stake in selected petrochemical assets of Wanhua Chemical in Yantai, China.

  Olefins are a class of petrochemicals made up of hydrogen and carbon with one or more pairs of carbon atoms linked by a double bond. Two of the most important are ethylene and propylene.

  Olefins are widely used as raw materials in the manufacture of chemicals and polymer products, such as plastics, detergents, adhesives, rubber and food packaging.

  ---

  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:

  > AGENDA: UAE-Turkiye trade gains momentum > INTERVIEW 1: Building on UAE-Turkiye trade > INTERVIEW 2: Turkiye’s Kalyon goes global > INTERVIEW 3: Strengthening UAE-Turkiye financial links > INTERVIEW 4: Turkish Airlines plans further growth > CURRENT AFFAIRS: Middle East tensions could reduce gas investments > GCC REAL ESTATE: Gulf real estate faces a more nuanced reality > PROJECTS MARKET: GCC projects market collapses > INTERVIEW 5: Hassan Allam eyes role in Saudi Arabia’s transformation > INTERVIEW 6: Aseer region seeks new investments for Saudi Arabia > LEADERSHIP: Nuclear power makes a global comeback > LEVANT MARKET FOCUS: Levant states wrestle regional pressures > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects index continues climb > CONTRACT AWARDS: Mena contract award activity remains subdued > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects > OPINION: A farcical tragedy that no one can end

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

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14278465/main.jpg

  Wil Crisp