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• 
  Qiddiya plans $7bn theme park hub near Paris

  25 August 2026

  Saudi Arabia’s Qiddiya Investment Company plans to develop a mixed-use leisure destination worth about €6bn ($7bn) at Cergy-Pontoise in the Ile-de-France region, in one of the largest Saudi investments in French tourism infrastructure to date.

  The plan was set out in a joint statement issued on 24 August at the close of a state visit to France by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. France and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) covering the project during the two-day visit.

  The destination will bring together entertainment, leisure, hospitality, culture and sport, according to the joint statement. Current plans envisage up to three major entertainment anchors, hotels and complementary leisure experiences, with the €6bn figure covering the full development lifecycle.

  One of the three parks is expected to be manga-themed, according to the French presidency. The themes of the other two have not been disclosed. The parks will be built and opened in stages, with construction expected to take several years. No opening date has been given.

  The parks are expected to create about 22,000 direct jobs, according to the French presidency, compared with about 20,000 at Disneyland Paris. Cergy-Pontoise lies about 30 kilometres northwest of Paris.

  Qiddiya is a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Its flagship project is a giga-scale entertainment, sports and cultural city on the outskirts of Riyadh, one of several gigaprojects under Vision 2030.

  The theme park plan was among a wider set of agreements reached during the visit. Both sides welcomed the announcement of 21 agreements and MoUs at a French-Saudi investment roundtable, spanning energy, industry, financial services, transport and logistics, health, culture, tourism and artificial intelligence. Bilateral trade reached about $11.8bn in 2025.

  It is not the first time Saudi capital has backed a French theme park. Kingdom Holding Company was a longstanding investor in the operator of Disneyland Paris, first taking a stake in 1994 and participating in successive recapitalisations before Walt Disney Company moved to near-full ownership in 2017.

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  Colin Foreman
• 
  Masdar shelves Abu Dhabi green hydrogen project

  25 August 2026

  

   

  Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) has decided to cancel a planned project to build a green hydrogen plant in Abu Dhabi that would have supplied up to 100MW of renewable hydrogen to local steelmaker Emsteel for green steel production.

  After contractors submitted bids for the project last year, Masdar asked bidders in the first quarter of this year to extend the validity of their proposals until the end of August to allow “more time to study and evaluate bids”, according to one source.

  However, Masdar issued a notification to all bidders on 1 August stating that it had decided to cancel the project, sources told MEED.

  Contractors that submitted bids for the Masdar green hydrogen project included:

  • Envision (China)
  • Larsen & Toubro (India)
  • PowerChina (China)
  • Samsung E&A (South Korea)
  • Sinopec (China)

  Masdar did not respond to MEED’s request for comment on the information.

  In its current steelmaking process, Emsteel uses hydrogen produced by steam reforming of natural gas as a reducing agent to extract iron from iron ore. The core objective of Masdar’s planned project was to install a 100MW electrolyser at Emsteel’s main manufacturing hub in Musaffah, Abu Dhabi, to supply green hydrogen for future clean steel production.

  Masdar initiated work on the project in 2024 by awarding a front-end engineering and design (feed) contract to locally based NT Energies, a joint venture of Abu Dhabi’s NMDC Energy and France-based Technip Energies.

  Masdar then sought proposals last year for engineering, procurement, construction, demolition (if needed for brownfield activities), pre-commissioning, commissioning, start-up, and two years of operations and maintenance (extendable up to 20 years) at the planned facility.

  Contractors submitted bids by the end of the year, according to sources.

  The project involved green hydrogen production using alkaline water electrolysis, with a total installed electrolyser capacity of 100MW.

  The scope of work involved building electrolyser stacks and modules, hydrogen separation and compression units, associated utilities and storage systems, and electrical, instrumentation and control systems.

  It also included tie-ins to pre-defined interface points, including (but not limited to):

  • a grid power supply connection to the MOSF substation in Musaffah that exists within the Emsteel complex and is operated by Taqa Transmission
  • a water supply connection to a nearby Taqa Distribution network

  Supporting infrastructure included a substation, a motor control centre, and ancillary plant buildings and facilities.

  Masdar’s planned 100MW electrolyser project at the Emsteel facility would have represented a step up from a previous pilot project by the two Abu Dhabi-owned companies.

  The partners inaugurated a pilot green hydrogen plant at Emsteel’s manufacturing complex in Musaffah in October 2024. It incorporates a 2.1MW electrolyser and is designed to support the production of up to 5,000 tonnes of green steel a year.

  This made Emsteel the only steelmaker in the Middle East to use green hydrogen to produce green steel on a pilot basis.

  “Sustainability is central to Emsteel’s innovation, competitiveness and long-term growth. Today, approximately 89% of our steel business electricity consumption comes from clean sources, and our steel carbon emissions intensity is around 40% lower than the World Steel Association global average,” Michael Rion, chief commercial officer of Emirates Steel, part of Emsteel Group, told MEED in a recent interview.

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

  Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

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

  > AGENDA: Expo 2030 Riyadh construction gathers pace > WORLD CUP: What the 2026 World Cup means for Saudi Arabia 2034 > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge > INDUSTRY REPORT: GCC banks prove resilient amid turmoil > LEADERSHIP: Private capital and the GCC infrastructure inflection > PORTS: Geopolitical risk shapes $513bn of global ports projects > INTERVIEW: Developers look beyond standalone solar

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

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Kuwait tenders $3.3bn gas processing facility

  25 August 2026

  

   

  State-owned Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC) has issued the tender for the development of an onshore gas plant next to the Al-Zour refinery, according to industry sources.

  The project budget is estimated at $3.3bn, and the bid deadline is 29 December, with a meeting for contractors scheduled for 14 September.

  The tender was issued on 23 August.

  The proposed plant will have the capacity to process up to 632 million cubic feet a day of gas and 60,000 b/d a day of condensates from the Dorra offshore field, located in Gulf waters in the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone.

  In February, MEED reported that at least seven companies had shown interest in participating in the tender.

  Contractors that sent representatives to previous meetings to discuss the project include:

  • Samsung E&A (South Korea)
  • Larsen & Toubro (India)
  • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)
  • Saipem (Italy)
  • Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
  • Hyundai Engineering Company (South Korea)
  • JGC (Japan)

  The tender process is using a fast-track model, which means that Kuwait’s Central Agency for Public Tenders (Capt) will not be involved in the tender process.

  Capt typically reviews the technical and commercial evaluations of bids and verifies that the bidding process is competitive.

  It is understood that not requiring Capt to approve this tender is expected to speed up the tender process.

  Iran disputes ownership of the field, referring to it as Arash.

  Iran claims the field partially extends into Iranian territory and asserts that Tehran should be a stakeholder in its development.

  The Dorra field’s close proximity to Iran could make development difficult due to current security concerns.

  The offshore elements of the wider Dorra field development project are expected to be especially difficult to protect from attacks from Iran.

  Earlier this month, MEED revealed that Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) had selected contractors for two major offshore packages under the Dorra field facilities development project.

  KJO, which is jointly owned by Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Company and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation subsidiary KGOC, has divided the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope for the Dorra gas production project into four packages: three offshore and one onshore.

  US-based McDermott International has secured offshore package 2A, valued at about $1.5bn, according to sources.

  A consortium of India’s Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH) and Italian contractor Saipem has secured package 2B, sources told MEED.

  Estimated at about $3.7bn, package 2B is the largest of the three offshore EPC packages under the Dorra field facilities project.

  MEED reported in March that the LTEH/Saipem consortium had emerged as the lowest bidder for offshore package 2B.

  Contractors submitted bids for offshore packages 2A and 2B by the 9 March deadline, MEED previously reported. Bid validity was understood to expire on 15 August, prompting KJO to issue letters of intent to the selected contractors earlier this month, sources said.

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  Wil Crisp
• 
  L&T announces Jafurah fourth expansion phase contract award

  24 August 2026

  

   

  Indian contracting conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has announced that its subsidiary, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon Onshore (LTEH Onshore), has won a contract to undertake a gas compression facilities project “for a prestigious client in the Middle East”.

  LTEH Onshore received the letter of award during India’s 2026 financial year, which starts on 1 April, Mumbai-headquartered L&T said in a statement, describing the order as ‘ultra-mega’ – a term the company uses for contracts valued at more than INR150bn ($1.57bn).

  The project involves the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of gas compression plants, comprising gas inlet facilities, gas compression systems, condensate and produced-water handling systems, propane refrigeration systems and all associated utilities, L&T said in its statement on 24 August.

  “The facilities will be developed for new onshore installations to process sour gas in compliance with applicable client standards, codes and project requirements,” the Bombay Stock Exchange-listed company said.

  To meet the power requirements of the gas compression plants, L&T’s Power Transmission & Distribution business will execute two 230kV extra-high-voltage substations, L&T added.

  MEED understands that the contract award relates to the fourth expansion phase of the Jafurah unconventional gas development in Saudi Arabia, for which Saudi Aramco selected LTEH for EPC works earlier this year.

  MEED previously reported that LTEH started work on the Jafurah fourth expansion phase during the second quarter of the year, with sources estimating the contract value at around $1.5bn.

  The main scope of work on the Jafurah fourth expansion phase project involves the EPC of two gas compression trains at the giant gas basin in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. Each plant will be able to process up to 200 million cubic feet a day (cf/d).

  The detailed scope of work involves the EPC of the following process and utilities units at the south field of the Jafurah reserve:

  • Two gas compression trains of 200 million cf/d capacity each, measuring 400 metres by 400 metres
  • Gas compression plant inlet area
  • Gas compression plant condensate and produced-water handling
  • Instrumentation and plant air unit
  • Nitrogen generation unit
  • Raw/potable/water utilities
  • Chemical injection systems
  • Diesel systems
  • Flare and flare gas recovery systems
  • Gas compression plant burn pit
  • Closed drain system
  • Oily water system
  • Sanitary water system
  • Stormwater system
  • Firewater system
  • Fire and gas protection system
  • All buildings located within the gas compression plant, excluding security buildings
  • Outside battery limit buildings

  Contractors submitted proposals for the Jafurah fourth expansion phase project by the deadline of 15 January 2025, MEED previously reported. After the bids were submitted, Aramco initially asked contractors to extend their bid validity until the end of September, as it needed more time to evaluate the proposals.

  The Saudi energy giant then asked contractors to extend the validity of their base proposals until February this year, and the bidders complied, MEED reported.

  Along with requesting a second bid-validity extension, Aramco also sought an alternative set of commercial proposals from contractors, sources said. Bidders submitted the second price option to the client in December, the sources added.

  The following contractors are among those that are understood to have submitted bids for the Jafurah fourth expansion phase project:

  • China Petroleum Engineering & Construction
  • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
  • Samsung E&A (South Korea)
  • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain) / Sinopec Group (China)

  Aramco issued the main tender for the project in July 2024. Contractors invited to bid were initially set a deadline of 15 October that year to submit technical bids and their In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) credentials. Commercial bids were due to be submitted by 31 October, with the deadline extended to 31 December, then to 15 January, 2025.

  Jafurah gas development phases

  The Jafurah basin is the largest liquid-rich shale gas play in the Middle East, spanning around 17,000 square kilometres. The reserve is estimated to contain 229 trillion cubic feet of gas and 75 billion stock-tank barrels of condensate.

  Aramco brought the greenfield Jafurah gas processing plant online in early December, with a production capacity of 450 million cf/d, marking the commissioning of the first phase of its $100bn capital expenditure programme to produce gas from the unconventional resource base.

  The Saudi oil company had earlier said it expected to start gas production at Jafurah in 2025, with the intention of progressively ramping up to 2 billion cf/d of sales gas, 420 million cf/d of ethane and 630,000 barrels a day (b/d) of high-value liquids by 2030.

  Aramco has said that, at peak production, its unconventional gas programme is expected to generate electricity equivalent to displacing 500,000 b/d of oil.

  Along with overseeing EPC works on the Jafurah fourth expansion phase project, Aramco is also nearing a decision on awarding the main EPC contract for the fifth expansion phase of the mammoth Jafurah unconventional gas development programme.

  MEED recently reported that a frontrunner has emerged for the main EPC contract for the Jafurah fifth expansion phase, whose scope is similar to the programme’s fourth phase that has been awarded to LTEH.

  Dubai-headquartered Wood Group has carried out the front-end engineering and design (feed) on the fifth expansion phase.

  Progress on the fourth and fifth expansion phases of the Jafurah unconventional gas development programme continues as EPC work on the third phase advances.

  In July 2024, Aramco issued a non-binding letter of intent to a consortium of Tecnicas Reunidas and Sinopec Group for the EPC contract for the Jafurah third expansion phase. The value of the contract is estimated to be $2.24bn.

  The objective of the third expansion phase of Jafurah is similar to that of the fourth phase of development. The main scope of work involves the EPC of three gas compression plants, each with a capacity of 200 million cf/d.

  The third phase’s scope of work also includes building a 230kV substation to power the new gas compression plants and installing other utilities units, piping systems and safety equipment.

  The selection of contractors for the third expansion phase of the Jafurah development came within weeks of Aramco officially awarding EPC contracts for the second expansion phase, which aims to raise its processing potential to up to 2 billion cf/d of raw gas produced from the Jafurah field.

  Aramco awarded 16 contracts, worth a combined total of about $12.4bn, for the second expansion phase on 30 June 2024.

  The EPC scope of work on the project involves the construction of gas compression facilities and associated pipelines and the expansion of the Jafurah gas plant, including the construction of gas processing trains, utilities, sulphur and export facilities, Aramco said in a statement.

  The main EPC packages of the Jafurah second expansion phase project, their estimated values and the selected contractors are:

  • Package 1 – gas processing plant and main process units – $2.9bn: Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
  • Package 2 – utilities and offsites – $2.4bn: Hyundai Engineering (South Korea)
  • Package 3 – gas compression units – $1bn: Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon
  • Riyas natural gas liquids (NGL) package 1 – NGL fractionation trains – $1bn: Tecnicas Reunidas / Refining & Chemical Engineering Group (part of China’s Sinopec Group)
  • Riyas NGL package 2 – utilities, storage and export facilities – $2.2bn: Tecnicas Reunidas/Refining & Chemical Engineering Group
  • Riyas NGL package 6 – site preparation works – $107m: Mofarreh Alharbi & Partners (Saudi Arabia)
  • Riyas NGL package 9 – temporary construction facilities – $80m: Mofarreh Alharbi & Partners

  Aramco kickstarted EPC works on the first phase of the programme in November 2021 by awarding $10bn-worth of subsurface and EPC contracts.

  In February 2020, Aramco received a capital expenditure grant of $110bn from the Saudi government for the long-term phased development of the Jafurah unconventional gas resource base.

  The Jafurah unconventional gas development programme is central to Aramco’s goal of increasing gas production capacity. The target has recently been raised to 80%, with 2021 as the baseline, up from 60%, to meet rising domestic and global demand. The company expects life-cycle investment in Jafurah to exceed $100bn.

  Prior to the commissioning of the Jafurah gas plant in the last quarter of this year, Aramco completed an $11bn lease-and-leaseback deal in late October for gas processing facilities at the Jafurah unconventional gas reserve with a consortium led by funds managed by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), part of US asset manager BlackRock.

  Under the transaction, which Aramco started in August, a newly formed subsidiary – Jafurah Midstream Gas Company (JMGC) – will lease development and usage rights to the Jafurah field gas processing plant and the Riyas natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation facility.

  After 20 years, JMGC will lease the assets back to Aramco. JMGC will collect a tariff payable by Aramco in exchange for granting Aramco the exclusive right to receive, process and treat raw gas from the Jafurah resource base.

  Aramco will hold a 51% majority stake in JMGC, while the GIP-led consortium will hold the remaining 49%. Investors participating in the GIP-led consortium include Hassana Investment Company, The Arab Energy Fund (TAEF) and Aberdeen Investcorp Infrastructure Partners, as well as other institutional investors from North and Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Saudi Arabia battery storage awards provide fresh lift

  24 August 2026

  Commentary
  Mark Dowdall
  Power & water editor

  The latest battery storage awards provide a welcome injection of investment into Saudi Arabia’s power market, which has seen a sharp slowdown in contract awards this year.

  Saudi Power Procurement Company’s four Group 1 storage service agreements, announced last week, are worth more than $1.16bn and cover 2,000MW of capacity.

  That is significant against the wider market. According to regional project tracker MEED Projects, Saudi Arabia recorded $19.7bn in power sector contract awards in the first seven months of 2025, compared with just $2.5bn in new awards in the same period this year.

  The battery energy storage system (bess) awards therefore account for a sizeable share of the activity recorded so far this year and provide a much-needed source of new contracting activity.

  Importantly, this is not a one-off. SPPC issued the request for proposal (RFP) for its second group of bess projects in July, covering six projects with a combined capacity of 3,000MW and 12,000MWh.

  With the Group 1 tender taking around 18 months from RFP to contract award, it is reasonable to expect Group 2 contracts to be signed in 2027.

  At the same time, the awards for six independent renewable plants under Round 7 of Saudi Arabia’s National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP), with a combined capacity of 5,300MW, are also likely to move into next year, with the latest bid deadlines now extending into September.

  Although a substantial pipeline remains in procurement, it is only once these projects move from tender to award and into construction that this pipeline translates into market activity.

  It is important that these tenders continue to progress at the pace established by the early rounds of Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy programme and now also SPPC’s independent storage provider bess scheme.

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  Mark Dowdall