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  Local firm makes hydrocarbon discovery in Oman’s Block 7

  14 April 2026

  Omani oil and gas exploration and production company Masar Petroleum has announced a discovery in the Hasirah Ridge in the sultanate’s Block 7.

  Masar Petroleum was the inaugural operator to appraise and produce hydrocarbons from the Hasirah reservoir in Block 7 in 2017.

  Building on that experience, Masar Petroleum has now successfully drilled a new exploration well south of its existing discoveries, validating the concept of the Hasirah Ridge — a geological trend 5 kilometres wide and 30km long mapped across Block 7 using 2D seismic data.

  This discovery represents the first step towards unlocking the Ridge’s prospective resource base of 100 million to 380 million barrels, Masar Petroleum said in a statement.

  Following this discovery, a planned 3D seismic survey and exploration and appraisal programme is expected to advance the development of the new resources by the end of 2028.

  First production from this field is expected to come on stream during the last quarter of this year.

  Masar Petroleum plans to rapidly advance appraisal and development opportunities across Block 7.

  “Masar is a proud Omani E&P company that has delivered significant value through a continuous and focused effort on unlocking our potential,” Abdulsattar AlMurshidi, CEO of Masar Petroleum, said.

  ALSO READ: Oman offers five hydrocarbon exploration blocks in new bidding round

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Bidders get more time for Saudi water transmission projects

  14 April 2026

  

   

  Saudi Arabia’s Water Transmission Company (WTCO) has extended the bid submission deadlines for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for two major independent water transmission system projects.

  The Jubail-Buraidah and Ras Mohaisen-Baha-Mecca transmission projects were first tendered last September under the public-private partnership model.

  The deadlines for qualified contractors to submit technical and financial bids had initially been extended to March. 

  The new bid submission deadline for the Jubail-Buraidah project is 30 April.

  Scheduled to begin construction in 2027, the scheme comprises an approximately 348-kilometre-long greenfield water transmission system with a capacity of 840,650 cubic metres a day (cm/d), delivering water from the Ashmasiah reservoirs to cities and towns in Al-Qassim province.

  The project is large by WTCO standards. The company’s second phase of the Khobar-Hofuf system, completed in 2024, was 140km in length, with a capacity exceeding 530,000 cm/d. 

  Ras Mohaisen-Baha-Mecca

  For the Ras Mohaisen-Baha-Mecca water transmission system project, the new bid submission deadline is 7 May.

  The project involves constructing an approximately 325km-long greenfield independent water transmission system with a capacity of 542,000 cm/d, delivering water from Ras Mohaisen to the Adham and Aradhiyah regions.

  Prequalification for both projects closed on 15 January.

  It is understood that local firms Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies and Mutlaq Al-Ghowairi Contracting Company (MGC) are among those qualified to bid for the Ras Mohaisen contract.

  MGC secured the EPC contract for an even larger independent water transmission pipeline project in June last year.

  The project, also linking Jubail and Buraidah, spans 587km and carries 650,000 cm/d.

  According to regional project tracker MEED Projects, construction works recently commenced on the project, which is estimated to cost about SR8.5bn ($2.2bn).

  WTCO is also planning to tender a contract for phase two of the Ras Mohaisen water transmission system project. This includes laying water transmission pipelines 408km in length with a capacity of 400,000 cm/d. This project is estimated to cost around $600m.

  It is understood that the main contract tender will be issued in 2027.

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

  Economic shock threatens long-term outlook; Riyadh adjusts to fiscal and geopolitical risk; GCC contractor ranking reflects gigaprojects slowdown.

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

  > AGENDA: Gulf economies under fire > GCC CONTRACTOR RANKING: Construction guard undergoes a shift > MARKET FOCUS: Risk accelerates Saudi spending shift > LEGAL: Redefining the region’s arbitration landscape > QATAR LNG: Qatar’s new $8bn investment heats up global LNG race > INTERVIEW: Leyla Abdimomunova, National Development Division, PIF > LEADERSHIP: Shaping the future of passenger rail in the Middle East

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

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  Mark Dowdall
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  Saudi firm wins $64.2m steel pipe orders from Aramco

  14 April 2026

  Saudi Arabia-based Arabian Pipes Company has announced it has won orders from Saudi Aramco to supply steel pipes, totalling SR241m ($64.2m).

  Under the terms of the contracts, Arabian Pipes Company will supply steel pipes over contract durations of nine months and 11 months, commencing from the date of signing.

  “These contract awards reinforce Arabian Pipes Company’s strong position as a key supplier to the kingdom’s energy sector and highlight its continued commitment to supporting major oil and gas infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia,” the company said in a filing with the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul), where its shares trade.

  The company added that the orders will contribute positively to its financial performance over the contract period.

  Arabian Pipes Company last secured a contract from Aramco in August 2024, when it won an eleven-month steel pipe supply order worth approximately $28.53m.

  Prior to that, in July 2024, the company won a contract worth SR293m ($78.1m) to supply steel pipes for the second expansion phase of Aramco’s Jafurah unconventional gas development. That contract had a duration of 10 months.

  The order was placed as a subcontract by Denys Arabia, the main contractor performing engineering, procurement and construction works on one of the Jafurah second expansion phase project packages.

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  MEED’s April 2026 report on Saudi Arabia includes:

  > COMMENT: Risk accelerates Saudi spending shift
  > GVT &: ECONOMY: Riyadh navigates a changed landscape
  > BANKING: Testing times for Saudi banks
  > UPSTREAM: Offshore oil and gas projects to dominate Aramco capex in 2026
  > DOWNSTREAM: Saudi downstream projects market enters lean period
  > POWER: Wind power gathers pace in Saudi Arabia
  > WATER: Sharakat plan signals next phase of Saudi water expansion
  > CONSTRUCTION: Saudi construction enters a period of strategic readjustment
  > TRANSPORT: Rail expansion powers Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure push

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

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Spanish firm wins Saudi Landbridge design

  14 April 2026

  

   

  Spanish engineering firm Typsa has won the lead design consultancy services contract for the long-planned Saudi Landbridge railway network.

  Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) issued the tender in April last year. It included concept design and options development for the preliminary and Issued for Construction (IFC) design stages of the network, as MEED reported.

  The estimated SR100bn ($27bn) project comprises more than 1,500km of new track. The core component is a 900km new railway between Riyadh and Jeddah, which will provide direct freight access to the capital from King Abdullah Port on the Red Sea.

  Other key sections include upgrading the existing Riyadh-Dammam line, a bypass around the capital called the Riyadh Link, and a link between King Abdullah Port and Yanbu.

  The Saudi Landbridge is one of the kingdom’s most anticipated project programmes. Plans to develop it were first announced in 2004, but put on hold in 2010 before being revived a year later. Key stumbling blocks were rights-of-way issues, route alignment and its high cost.

  In January, SAR said it would deliver the Saudi Landbridge project through a "new mechanism" by 2034, after failing to reach an agreement with a Chinese consortium to construct it.

  In an interview with local media, SAR CEO Bashar Bin Khalid Al-Malik said the consortium failed to meet local content requirements, and the project would now be delivered in several phases through a different procurement model.

  In December 2023, MEED reported that a team comprising US-based Hill International, Italy’s Italferr and Spain’s Sener had been awarded the contract to provide project management services for the programme.

  If it proceeds, the Saudi Landbridge will be one of the largest railway projects ever undertaken in the Middle East and among the biggest globally.

  

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Trump insider key in brokering Libya budget deal

  14 April 2026

  Commentary
  Wil Crisp
  Oil & gas reporter

  Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Donald Trump’s youngest daughter and an adviser to the US president, is being credited by many Libyans as being instrumental in brokering the country’s recent budget agreement.

  The Central Bank of Libya confirmed on 11 April that the country’s rival legislative bodies had approved a unified state budget for the first time in more than 13 years.

  The budget is valued at LD190bn ($29.95bn), with LD12bn ($1.9bn) allocated to the country’s National Oil Corporation (NOC), and LD40bn ($6.3bn) allocated for “development projects”.

  After the Central Bank’s announcement, Boulos posted on social media, stating that he had called the Prime Minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, to congratulate him on the deal.

  In his social media post, the Lebanese-American businessman said that during the call, they discussed “the vital role of the National Oil Corporation in maintaining and expanding oil and gas production”.

  Boulos was appointed as the US president’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs in January last year and first travelled to Libya in July the same year, when he met with leaders from both of the country’s rival legislatures.

  Since his first trip, he has ramped up US diplomatic activity in the country and held meetings in Tripoli and Benghazi during January of this year.

  In February, speaking at a UN Security Council session on Libya, he said that the US was ‘‘working on concrete steps for economic and military integration by bringing together senior officials from eastern and western Libya”.

  During the same session, which took place less than two months ago, the head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Hanna Tetteh, said: ‘‘Regrettably, there has been no meaningful progress between the House of Representatives (HoR) and the High Council of State (HCS) in completing the first two steps of the roadmap, despite UNSMIL’s efforts’’.

  Many Libyans credit Boulos’ ability to secure compromises from both of Libya’s legislatures to his decision to deviate from the UN roadmap, which focuses on moving towards a new round of elections to create a unified government.

  One source said: “The priority of the US in Libya isn’t holding elections; it’s doing commercial deals that the US can benefit from – especially in the oil sector.

  “The timing of this latest budget deal isn’t accidental. Right now, the US is desperate to bring new oil and gas production online in order to help lower global oil prices.

  “Forging a deal between the HoR and the HCS is a great way of bringing large volumes of crude onto the market in a relatively short timeframe.”

  Donald Trump is coming under increasing pressure domestically due to high oil prices after partnering with Israel in his war against Iran, which started on 28 February.

  As a result of the conflict, global markets are losing 11 million barrels a day (b/d) of oil supply due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

  On top of this, 20% of the world’s LNG production cannot be shipped.

  The energy crunch has caused prices to spike and sent countries that are dependent on imported oil and gas scrambling to secure new supplies.

  Libya has Africa’s largest oil reserves and has the potential to produce much more than its current 1.43 million barrels a day.

  One of the central reasons NOC has struggled to bring new production online over recent years has been the ongoing political gridlock over the country’s budget.

  Now, many Libyans are expecting hundreds of projects across all sectors to start moving forward in the country.

  The budget approval has sparked a surge of optimism about potential development and economic growth, but the country’s political and security situation remains fragile.

  It remains to be seen whether the pragmatic dealmaking of Boulos will lead to long-term stability.

  

   

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  Wil Crisp