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Mena pushes for nuclear future

2 August 2023

 

The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region is set to register a rise of at least 30 per cent in power generation capacity by 2030 due to population growth and industrial expansion.

The rapid increase requires a strategy to advance energy security while reducing carbon emissions and fossil-fuel dependence, creating strong interest in nuclear power and renewable energy.

Iran has a 1GW nuclear plant in Bushehr and construction is under way for a second 300MW reactor in Khuzestan.

In the UAE, three of the four 1.4GW reactors at the GCC region’s first multi-unit nuclear power plant in Barakah, Abu Dhabi, are now connected to the electricity grid.

Egypt, in partnership with Russia’s Rosatom, is building its first nuclear power plant in El-Debaa.

Riyadh, meanwhile, tendered the contract to build its first large-scale power plant in Duwaiheen last year.

Beyond the GCC, Jordan has announced the production of 20 kilograms of yellowcake from 160 tonnes of uranium ore at a newly operational processing facility, while Morocco has completed a study supporting a plan to go nuclear.

Alternative base load

Apart from Saudi Arabia, these countries have significant renewable capacity as of 2023. All aim for renewables to account for up to half of installed capacity by the end of the decade.

Nuclear is seen as an alternative base load to thermal capacity to counter the intermittency of renewables in the absence of viable storage solutions. This has helped build the case for adding nuclear to the energy mix – although, in the UAE, the Barakah plant predated the renewable energy programme.

The decarbonisation potential of nuclear may be overstated, however, says a leading regional expert on utility projects.

“We should use all available clean-carbon solutions to decarbonise all industrial and human consumption and endeavour,” says Paddy Padmanathan, former CEO of Saudi utility Acwa Power. “Clearly we need to decarbonise as soon as possible.”

The rate at which the residual carbon budget is being consumed implies that even zero emissions by 2050 will not be sufficient, according to the executive. This begs the question: Which technologies will deliver solutions at scale to quickly achieve decarbonisation.

Nuclear power plants, which – with the exception of Abu Dhabi’s Barakah – have struggled to be delivered on time and within budget, may not be a viable solution, says Padmanathan, who now sits on the board of the UK energy startup Xlinks and green hydrogen firm Zhero.

He says nuclear power plants outside China have taken twice as long to build than planned and have typically cost more than twice their budget. Such capital expenditure and long construction times mean nuclear may only make sense if you have lots of spare cash, he adds.

Hence it is unwise to factor in nuclear to plans to decarbonise power generation by 2050, Padmanathan argues. “We already have much – if not all – the technologies to get the job done,” he notes, referring to renewable energy and battery storage solutions, among others. 

He continues: “One cannot bank on such a rare outlier as Barakah, which got completed with only a marginal increase in cost and time, and rely on nuclear to deliver any meaningful level of flexible base load.”

Saudi programme

Budget availability and the urgency of decarbonisation aside, other factors complicate nuclear projects in the region, particularly in Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom’s nuclear energy programme dates back to 2010 with the creation of King Abdullah City for Atomic & Renewable Energy (KA-Care). In 2021, KA-Care invited consultancy bids for its first large-scale nuclear power project in Duwaiheen, close to the Qatar border. It awarded the financial, legal and technical advisory services contracts last year.

In October 2022, Riyadh issued the request for proposals for the main contract to Russian, South Korean, Chinese and French firms.

Earlier this year, it formed the Saudi Nuclear Energy Holding Company, which plans to develop nuclear power plants as early as 2027 to produce electricity and to desalinate seawater, as well as for thermal energy applications. 

Most recently, the state offtaker Saudi Power Procurement Company floated a tender for advisers to help prepare and review project agreements related to the procurement of electricity from Saudi’s first nuclear power plant, raising further speculation about the nuclear project.

The Saudi programme, particularly the kingdom’s plans to mine uranium as part of its economic and industrial strategy, is a thorn in Washington’s side. It is understood to have been a key theme in discussions when US President Joe Biden visited Riyadh last year.

Washington is wary of the nuclear power plant contract being awarded to Chinese or Russian contractors, not only because this could drive Riyadh closer to geopolitical rivals of the US, but also because it weakens US demands for Riyadh to abandon its nuclear fuel cycle ambitions before signing any bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement (NCA), otherwise known in Washington as a 123 agreement.

Uranium has to be enriched to up to 5 per cent for use in nuclear power plants and to 90 per cent to become weapons-grade. According to an Energy Intelligence report, the stalemate between Washington and Riyadh centres around US demands for Saudi Arabia to commit to the NCA and not pursue a domestic uranium enrichment or reprocessing programme.

The US also wants the kingdom to sign and ratify the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Additional Protocol, allowing nuclear inspectors fuller access to Saudi Arabia’s nuclear programme.

The report alludes to the US supporting South Korean contractor Kepco’s bid to develop the nuclear plant because it provides Washington with a final lever for pressuring Riyadh to accept its conditions for the 123 agreement and IAEA protocol.

Done deal

Biden’s visit did not produce material results, although unconfirmed reports say he may have given his blessing to the project, while others argue Riyadh did not need it.

“I think, in the end, this is a done deal, meaning that Saudi Arabia will pursue a nuclear energy programme,” says Karen Young, a senior research scholar at the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University in the US.

“They will pursue domestic uranium mining and likely enrichment, and we will see a more global ramp-up of nuclear energy use – and also, over time, possibly areas of proliferation in security uses not just in the Mena region, but across a wide geography.”

The US can either take solace from the fact that it takes time to develop a nuclear project, or it can – if it is not too late – revisit its relationship with Saudi Arabia, especially in the wake of a rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh under a deal brokered by China.

“Moving into design and procurement phases … whether with Russian, Chinese or South Korean [firms] … heightens already sensitive notions of strategic competition in the Gulf, as the US understands it,” notes Young.

In hindsight, it appears the US government has under-appreciated the seriousness of the Saudi plan or the importance of localised industry and mining as a domestic economic and security interest.

“Saudi Arabia sees an opportunity to play the US against its other options, so this is a unique moment of bargaining in which the nuclear file can be traded against broader foreign policy priorities for the Saudi leadership,” Young says.

Russian conundrum

The Barakah nuclear process, which entailed Abu Dhabi signing a 123 agreement with Washington, is seen as a gold standard. Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (Enec) signed supply contracts with France’s Areva and Russia’s Tenex for the supply of uranium concentrates and for the provision of conversion and enrichment services.

It then contracted Uranium One, part of Russia’s Rosatom, and UK-headquartered Rio Tinto for the supply of natural uranium for the plant. US-based ConverDyn provided conversion services, while British firm Urenco provided enrichment services.

The enriched uranium was supplied to Kepco Nuclear Fuels to manufacture the fuel assemblies for use at the Barakah nuclear power plant.

Fuel supply, processing, removal and storage are now complicated by Russia’s conflict and its global reputation, notes Young. The reference to Russia is important, given that Iran has provided drones to the country for use in its war with Ukraine, in exchange for the sale of advanced military equipment and cyber warfare. This is seen as a direct threat to Opec ally Riyadh.

The Tehran-Riyadh rapprochement only makes sense from a viewpoint where a dead Iran nuclear deal could expedite the Islamic Republic’s plan to build a bomb, potentially leading to a nuclear arms raise in the region, which everyone – particularly the two countries’ biggest client, China – would rather avoid.

Despite these complexities, the regional and global push to build nuclear capacity following the invasion of Ukraine and the threat to global gas supplies does not appear to be slowing.

The UAE, for instance, has partnered with the US to mobilise $100bn to support clean energy projects at home and abroad, and has pledged $30bn for energy cooperation with South Korea. Both these commitments involve significant investments in renewable and civilian nuclear energy projects.

This suggests that nuclear as a clean energy option is here to stay, despite mounting costs and geopolitical risks

Unfortunately, however, in a region marked by perennial instability, there are few incentives for the involved countries to be more transparent about their programmes.

While the evolving rapprochement between countries that have previously considered each other existential threats might not eliminate the spectre of a nuclear arms race, it can defuse tensions in the interim while helping push decarbonisation agendas.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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  • The Gulf’s next construction boom is happening underground

    31 July 2026

     

    Throughout the Gulf, some of the largest infrastructure contracts now being procured are for work that will never be seen from street level.

    In the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, metro lines, sewer networks and highway links are increasingly being built underground, making tunnelling the default approach to urban expansion rather than an occasional engineering solution.

    For two decades, the story of Gulf construction was told upwards, through record-breaking towers and ambitious skylines. Increasingly, it is now being told underground.

    Three things are happening at once. Cities across the region have run out of spare surface land on which to build new roads and rail lines. National transport plans require capacity that surface routes cannot provide without demolishing what has already been built. And governments have recognised that land no longer needed for transport infrastructure is far more valuable when used for development or public space.

    Dubai’s AED34bn ($9.2bn) Gold Line, its AED80bn ($22bn) Strategic Sewerage Tunnels project and Riyadh’s Metro Line 7 demonstrate that this calculation is now driving how the region’s biggest projects are delivered.

    Metro and rail tunnels

    The Gold Line illustrates this point clearly. Rather than extend the metro on elevated viaducts, as the original Red and Green lines did, Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is building the new line entirely underground.

    When completed in September 2032, the line will add 35% to the length of the Dubai Metro network, extending it by more than 42 kilometres through 18 stations. It will connect more than 55 real estate projects that are still under construction and serve about 1.5 million residents. Surface land along the route was judged too valuable to sacrifice for a viaduct.

    Riyadh is following a similar path. Metro Line 7 will run 65km between Qiddiya Entertainment City, King Abdullah International Gardens, King Salman Park, Misk City and Diriyah Gate, with 47km of the route underground. Fourteen of its 19 stations will also be below ground, preserving valuable surface corridors that connect some of the kingdom’s most valuable gigaproject developments.

    Dubai Metro’s Blue Line extension is already demonstrating the scale of the engineering involved. Its tunnel boring machine (TBM), named Al-Wugeisha by the RTA, began operating in May. The machine is 163 metres long, weighs more than 2,000 tonnes and advances at around 13 to 17 metres a day along 15.5km of the line’s 30km route.

    The same constraints are shaping Etihad Rail’s planned high-speed line between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Designed for trains travelling at up to 350km an hour, the railway will require underground sections through its urban core. The line’s stations at Al-Zahiyah and Abu Dhabi International airport, together with its Dubai station at Al-Jaddaf, will all be built below ground, as there is no practical way to route a high-speed railway through built-up city centres without demolishing existing development.

    Dubai’s experiment with The Boring Company’s Loop system reflects the same shift towards underground infrastructure. The 6.4km first phase, valued at AED565m ($154m) and linking Dubai International Financial Centre to Dubai Mall, allows the emirate to test a lower-cost tunnelling model in a market still dominated by heavy civil engineering contractors. A second phase is already planned to extend the network to 22km and 19 stations within three years.

    Rather than extend the metro on elevated viaducts, as the original Red and Green lines did, Dubai’s RTA is building the Gold Line entirely underground

    Sewerage and stormwater tunnels

    A second, less visible tunnelling boom is under way beneath the region’s streets in stormwater and sewerage infrastructure. Dubai Municipality is finalising the first packages of the Strategic Sewerage Tunnels project, an AED80bn public-private partnership divided into three packages terminating at pump stations in Warsan and Jebel Ali.

    The scheme will convert Dubai’s sewerage system from a pumped network into a gravity-based one using deep tunnels and more than 200km of sewer links.

    Qatar is implementing a smaller version of the same concept. Ashghal has recently awarded a $104m contract for a trunk sewer running from Sheehaniya to the Doha North sewage treatment works. The tunnel will extend for about 39km, with diameters ranging from 600mm to 1,800mm, serving a catchment area covering 27,320 hectares of villages, farms, military facilities and a new residential development.

    These projects may lack the glamour of a metro line, but they demonstrate the same underlying principle. Once a city reaches a certain level of density, even routine utility infrastructure defaults to tunnelling rather than trenching.

    Roads and enabling works

    The third strand of the tunnelling boom covers the roads and enabling works that gigaprojects and dense cities increasingly require. Abu Dhabi’s Mid Island Parkway project combines bridges, a causeway and tunnels, including a cut-and-cover section on Bilrimaid Island, linking the emirate’s eastern islands.

    Another scheme currently under tender will connect Hudayriat Island to the mainland through two underwater tunnels feeding a 4.8km highway.

    In Al-Ain, Al-Fahjan Construction is boring a 120-metre tunnel through the Naqfa Mountains as part of a AED291m ($80m) dual carriageway, demonstrating that tunnelling is becoming viable outside the three largest urban centres wherever terrain, rather than density, presents the principal obstacle.

    Sharjah and Riyadh illustrate how the same approach is being adopted across different scales of urban development. Sharjah’s Al-Taawun Tunnel, the centrepiece of a AED750m ($204m) road programme linking Al-Nahda Bridge towards Dubai, and Riyadh’s Thumamah Road package, where Turkish contractor Yuksel Holding’s local subsidiary is constructing three tunnels and three bridges designed to carry 200,000 vehicles a day by 2028, reflect the same need to maximise surface capacity while avoiding disruption above ground.

    Dubai continues applying the same solution to smaller transport bottlenecks. The RTA’s contract to upgrade Umm Suqeim Street, Al-Wasl Road and Al-Safa Street includes bridges and tunnels totalling about 11km in what would once have been a straightforward at-grade junction improvement. The twin tunnels due to open on the Sheikh Rashid Corridor this August serve the same purpose: maintaining traffic flow between Oud Metha and Al-Wasl Club Street without adding a single lane of surface road.

    The contractors that have absorbed the lessons from Riyadh Metro’s earlier phases and Dubai’s Blue Line, rather than simply bidding aggressively to secure a share of a buoyant market, are likely to emerge strongest

    Contractors and technology

    The contractors delivering these projects increasingly move between them. The same firms bid for metro tunnels, sewerage tunnels and road tunnels, while the TBM fleets, grouting crews and tunnelling expertise developed on one project are redeployed on the next, sometimes in a different country.

    Turkish, Chinese, Korean and European civil engineering contractors that built Riyadh Metro’s earlier lines are now bidding for Metro Line 7 and for packages on Dubai’s Strategic Sewerage Tunnels project. Local firms such as Al-Marwan Contracting in Sharjah and Al-Fahjan Construction in Al-Ain also demonstrate that tunnelling is no longer the preserve of a handful of European and Japanese specialists, but a capability that regional contractors can increasingly offer.

    Clients have noticed. Procurement is likely to favour contractors and joint ventures that can demonstrate tunnelling experience across multiple countries, because ground conditions, TBM logistics and underground station construction involve too much risk to entrust to first-time operators.

    What happens next

    The main constraint on the region’s tunnelling boom is unlikely to be client appetite or financing. Instead, it will be the availability of TBMs and specialist subcontractors. Herrenknecht and its competitors cannot manufacture bespoke machines overnight, and every metro, sewerage and highway tunnel competing for the same large-diameter TBMs will continue to push lead times and day rates higher throughout the remainder of the decade.

    The pressure extends well beyond the machines themselves. Waterproofing, grouting, segment casting and ground-freezing specialists remain a relatively small global pool, and a region delivering metro, sewerage and highway tunnels simultaneously across three countries will inevitably compete for the same expertise.

    Day rates for tunnelling specialists are therefore likely to strengthen before this cycle reaches its peak. Clients are also expected to secure framework agreements with preferred contractors rather than repeatedly tendering individual projects, simply to secure access to equipment and specialist crews.

    Ground conditions remain the other major risk. The UAE’s gypsum-bearing and karstic geology, Riyadh’s mixed rock formations and Qatar’s high water table have already generated cost and programme surprises on previous tunnelling contracts. Delivering this volume of work within overlapping construction schedules makes it likely that some projects will experience delays or cost overruns.

    The contractors that have absorbed the lessons from Riyadh Metro’s earlier phases and Dubai’s Blue Line, rather than simply bidding aggressively to secure a share of a buoyant market, are likely to emerge strongest.

    The GCC’s tunnel boom is not a passing trend. The real question over the next decade is not whether governments will continue commissioning underground infrastructure, but which contractors have built the capability to deliver it without the delays and cost overruns that have affected comparable tunnelling booms elsewhere.

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  • Regional war to have lasting impact on Kuwaiti oil sector

    31 July 2026

     

    The ongoing regional war is likely to have a lasting impact on Kuwait’s oil sector, which is one of the world’s most reliant on tanker shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

    Shipping through this key chokepoint has been severely disrupted since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.

    Unlike Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Kuwait does not have a coastline outside the Gulf that would provide an alternative route for crude exports by oil tanker.

    It also lacks a major oil export pipeline, such as Iraq’s Kirkuk-Ceyhan export route, which has a nameplate capacity of 1.6 million barrels a day (b/d).

    Kuwait’s absence of alternative export routes meant that, in April, the country recorded zero crude oil exports for an entire month for the first time since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, according to shipping monitor TankerTrackers.com.

    During the following two months, exports rose slightly due to the temporary peace deal, but shipments remained a fraction of the levels seen before the US and Israel attacked Iran in February.

    In June, Kuwait exported an average of about 500,000 b/d, down from more than 1.7 million b/d in December last year.

    Since then, Kuwaiti crude exports are thought to have fallen to near zero again after the collapse of the peace deal signed by Iran and the US in Versailles on 17 June.

    Under attack

    In addition to the crisis caused by disruption to exports through the Strait of Hormuz, Kuwait’s oil and gas sector is also suffering from direct attacks on its infrastructure.

    Facilities in Kuwait have been hit by Iranian missiles and drone attacks multiple times since the regional conflict began.

    State-controlled media has limited the publication of details about which sites have been hit in recent weeks.

    Even so, it is clear that some of the most frequently hit facilities include the Mina Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries, operated by Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC).

    On the morning of 20 March 2026, following a drone attack, fires broke out across multiple units at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery.

    In April, the same refinery came under attack three times within a two-week period. These attacks also started fires in a number of operational units, forcing them to shut down.

    In early April, Iranian attacks also hit offices of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), as well as facilities operated by its subsidiary, Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC).

    In a statement released on 5 April, KPC said: “On 5 April, 2026, the oil sector complex located in Shuwaikh, which houses the KPC building and the Ministry of Oil, was attacked by drones, resulting in a fire at the building and significant material damage.

    “Several operational facilities belonging to the corporation, both at KNPC [sites] and PIC [sites], were also subjected to similar drone attacks, leading to fires at a number of these facilities, and causing significant material damage.”

    Attacks continued in July as the peace deal between the US and Iran frayed.

    On 18 July, KPC said that “one of its vital oil facilities” was hit in repeated Iranian attacks, causing “significant material damage and some injuries”.

    “The injured were provided with medical assistance and the site was evacuated, while the response to the attack is being handled in coordination with the relevant state authorities,” the corporation said in a statement.

    A couple of days earlier, an attack on an offshore oil platform in Kuwait caused “material damage” and injured one worker, according to a statement released by the official spokesperson for Kuwait’s Ministry of Defence, Major General Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi.

    The offshore platform was associated with the state-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), and the worker required medical care.

    While Kuwait has continued awarding contracts and announcing deals, the security situation is casting a long shadow over the country’s oil and gas sector

    Announcing deals

    While crude exports have stalled and progress across projects has slowed, Kuwait has continued to announce deals and push ahead with some tender processes.

    Recently, India’s Larsen & Toubro (L&T) won a contract from KOC for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of Jurassic Light Oil storage and export facilities, as well as upgrades to KOC’s existing export network.

    The scope of work under the contract, which was formally issued to L&T earlier in July, includes the EPC of six new crude oil storage tanks – each with an operating capacity of 618,000 barrels – along with associated facilities, on a lump-sum turnkey basis, the Mumbai-headquartered company said on 29 July.

    While the contract award indicates that the oil sector is functioning at an administrative level, there is significant uncertainty about when L&T will be able to begin execution given the current security environment.

    Additionally, KOC recently signed a $16bn infrastructure agreement with a consortium comprising Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR to establish a joint venture covering the country’s domestic and export crude oil pipeline network.

    Structured as a 20.5-year lease-and-leaseback transaction, the deal covers all 13 of KOC’s crude oil pipelines, spanning about 320 kilometres.

    Known as Project Peregrine, the transaction is set to become Kuwait’s largest energy infrastructure partnership and the largest foreign direct investment in the country’s history.

    Under the agreement, KOC will retain a 51% ownership stake in the newly formed joint venture, while Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR will collectively own the remaining 49%, with each investor holding an equal share. KOC will maintain full ownership, operation and maintenance of the pipeline system.

    The joint venture will lease the pipeline usage rights from KOC and grant the company exclusive rights to operate the network in exchange for a volume-based tariff. The agreement does not affect Kuwait’s authority over crude production or refinery throughput.

    The transaction is expected to generate $7.85bn in upfront proceeds for KOC.

    These funds could prove useful in the current climate of dramatically reduced oil revenues.

    Outlook dims

    While Kuwait has continued awarding contracts and announcing deals, the security situation is casting a long shadow over the country’s oil and gas sector.

    Prior to the start of the regional war, Kuwait was planning a major expansion in oil exploration and production, but these plans look increasingly unrealistic amid the deteriorating security situation and unanswered questions about the future viability of the Strait of Hormuz as an export route.

    Kuwait and Saudi Arabia’s plans to develop the offshore Dorra gas field are also increasingly uncertain.

    The field lies offshore in the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone, and its ownership is disputed by Iran, which refers to the field as Arash.

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

    The planned multibillion-dollar project to develop the field includes building new offshore facilities as well as gas processing plants located both in Saudi Arabia and in Kuwait.

    The $3.3bn gas processing plant due to be developed in Kuwait would have been the country’s biggest oil and gas sector project in more than a decade. However, it is already facing significant delays due to the war, and it is difficult to see how the necessary offshore facilities will be constructed amid the current security situation.

    Persistent concerns

    Even if a new peace deal is reached soon and shipping returns to normal in the Strait of Hormuz, the consequences of the recent shutdowns in Kuwait are likely to linger.

    Ramping production back up to pre-war levels at Kuwaiti oil fields is likely to be a slow and difficult process that will take several months at a minimum.

    In addition, concerns are likely to persist about the sector’s vulnerability to regional conflict and the consequences of possible future closures of the Strait of Hormuz.

    International contractors are likely to prioritise markets perceived as less risky, and investors may favour opportunities where export routes are less constrained.

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    Wil Crisp
  • Adnoc Onshore allows more bidding time for field facilities project

    31 July 2026

     

    Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s onshore business (Adnoc Onshore) has given contractors more time to prepare bids for a project to build on-plot and off-plot facilities at the Rumaitha and Shanayel fields, part of the Northeast Bab cluster of oil fields in Abu Dhabi.

    The project aims to enhance and sustain oil production at the Rumaitha and Shanayel fields at a rate of 45,000 barrels a day (b/d). It forms part of Adnoc Onshore’s contribution to parent company Adnoc Group’s broader objective of increasing oil production capacity to 5 million b/d by 2027 through its Accelerated Integrated Programme 5 (AiP5). Adnoc Group currently has a production capacity of 4.85 million b/d.

    Adnoc Onshore issued the main tender for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works package for the Rumaitha and Shanayel on-plot and off-plot facilities project on 19 June, MEED previously reported.

    The company has now extended the deadline for contractors to submit technical bids from 30 July to 2 August, according to sources.

    Adnoc Onshore issued the expression of interest for the Rumaitha and Shanayel on-plot and off-plot facilities project in early December, with contractors submitting their responses later that month, MEED previously reported.

    The prequalification and ongoing tendering process is understood to result from Adnoc Onshore revising its strategy for executing EPC works on an earlier, larger project covering the Northeast Bab cluster, which comprises the Al-Nouf, Rumaitha and Shanayel fields.

    MEED reported in December that Adnoc Onshore had cancelled the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCm) phase it launched in 2024 for the Northeast Bab on-plot and off-plot facilities project in favour of executing the scheme under a conventional EPC model.

    The operator awarded a contract to state-owned China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC) to carry out EPCm services for the Northeast Bab off-plot facilities package in October 2024. However, the contract was subsequently cancelled last year.

    Separately, Adnoc Onshore received bids during the second quarter of 2025 for the EPCm tender covering the Northeast Bab on-plot facilities package, but that procurement process was also later cancelled.

    Project scope of work

    The detailed scope of work on the Rumaitha and Shanayel on-plot and off-plot facilities project is as follows:

    On-plot facilities:

    • Oil train: One new oil train with slug catcher, two-stage separation, desalting, exchangers for crude heating and stabilisation, and all associated interconnections, utilities and civil/structural works, etc.
    • Produced water treatment (PWT): New produced water treatment package to enable 100% produced water reinjection (PWRI), including chemical dosing, tanks, pumps, all associated controls and blending with aquifer water, etc.
    • Water injection system: New water injection system, including surface water injection pumps, necessary connections and controls from produced water systems, headers, chemical dosing, power and controls, etc.
    • Gas handling and export:
      • Low-pressure gas compression system
      • Medium-pressure gas compression system
      • Gas dehydration and regeneration system
      • Export gas compression system
    • Utilities and offsites: Plant air and instrument air systems, nitrogen generation system, potable water system, vapour recovery system (liquid ejector package), fuel gas import and distribution, closed and open drain systems, hot oil heater, snuffing nitrogen package, enclosed ground flare systems (high-pressure and tank flares) etc.
    • Modifications in existing systems, including, but not limited to, installation of a slug catcher at phase-I, connectivity of gas systems, water systems, existing high-pressure compressors modifications, etc
    • Electrical, instrumentation and control, and safety: Electrical systems, instrumentation and control system (ICSS, F&G system, field instrumentation, HIPPS, etc.), substation and ITR room building, fire water system, etc.
    • Overhead line (220 kV): Installation and extension of overhead lines and 220 KV GIS compound or equivalent power distribution solutions to the central processing plant and other designated areas, as necessary.

    Off-plot facilities:

    • New gas lifted oil producers and water injectors installation with necessary piping, controls, etc. and their connections to the new or existing clusters and pipeline networks
    • New clusters with facilities such as control panels, ITR, production and test manifolds, headers, chemical injection skids, multiphase flow meters, closed drain systems, HIPPS valves, WHCPs, pig traps, ICSS/telecom extensions, etc.
    • Modifications in existing clusters, including the addition or extension of manifolds, headers, additional pipelines with pig traps, ICSS/telecom extensions, chemical injection kids, etc.
    • Gathering and injection networks: Construction of new and modified oil gathering and water injection trunklines/laterals, pigging facilities (launchers/receivers), valve stations, block valves, corrosion protection and monitoring, and all associated equipment, etc.
    • Export gas pipelines and Adnoc Gas interface: Provision for export gas pipeline and facilities from Rumaitha central processing plant to new manifold station and from NMS to Adnoc Gas, including isolation/blowdown, etc.
    • Overhead line: Installation and extension of 33 kV overhead lines to clusters, etc., as required.

    The tendering exercise for the Rumaitha and Shanayel on-plot and off-plot facilities project is taking place as Adnoc Onshore continues to make progress with EPC works on another, similar project to build off-plot facilities at the Southeast cluster of oil fields in Abu Dhabi, which is also integral to Adnoc Group’s AiP5 campaign.

    The Southeast cluster comprises the Asab, Mender, Qusahwira, Sahil and Shah fields and accounts for approximately a third of Adnoc Onshore’s oil production capacity.

    MEED previously reported that Adnoc Onshore had awarded EPC works on the Southeast off-plot facilities project to state-owned China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC), with the value of the contract estimated to be around $1.2bn.

    The overall scope of work on the Southeast off-plot facilities project covers the tie-in of more than 150 wells across the fields in the area, the upgrading of remote degassing stations and central degassing stations, the laying of over 270 kilometres of flowlines, as well as the digitalisation of wells for remote monitoring and the implementation of artificial intelligence-driven telemetry technologies.

    MEED also recently reported that CPECC awarded subcontracts on the Southeast off-plot facilities project, in its capacity as the main EPC contractor.

    The off-plot facilities project is a component of the overall $2bn-$3bn South East AIP5 development, with the on-plot facilities project forming the other part of the programme.

    CPECC is also performing EPC works on the Southeast on-plot facilities project in a consortium with Greece-headquartered Archirodon. Adnoc Onshore awarded an estimated $1.5bn contract for that project to the consortium in December 2024, with EPC works scheduled for completion in 2027.

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    Indrajit Sen
  • Dubai extends bid deadline for sewerage tunnels Phase 2 Links

    31 July 2026

     

    Dubai Municipality has extended the bid submission deadline for the Phase 2 Links package under the Dubai Strategic Sewerage Tunnels (DSST) public-private partnership (PPP) project.

    The Phase 2 Links package is the third package being tendered under the flagship DSST scheme. It was tendered in January and has a new bid submission deadline of 30 September. It had previously been extended to 31 August.

    In June, MEED reported that Dubai Municipality had selected groups for the first two packages, J and W, ahead of announcing formal contract awards.

    The J, W and Links packages cover the construction of two sets of deep tunnels terminating at pump stations at Warsan and the Jebel Ali sewage treatment plants (STPs). The project also includes over 200 kilometres of sewer links.

    According to a source, a hold-up on the “legal” side of things has prevented the municipality from making a formal contract awards announcement despite having selected the winning bidders and concluded discussions on the technical side.

    As previously reported, Package W will be awarded to a consortium led by Etihad Water & Electricity (UAE) alongside Tamasuk Holding (Saudi Arabia) and Alkhorayef Water & Power (Saudi Arabia). This package has an estimated capital expenditure cost of less than $2bn.

    Package J will be awarded to a consortium led by Vision Invest (Saudi Arabia) alongside Suez Water Company (France). This package has an estimated capital expenditure cost of $3bn. 

    It is understood that the municipality will first formally announce these awards before moving on to procurement for the next phase.

    Bid preparations

    MEED also previously reported that at least two groups are preparing to bid for the Links package.

    According to a source, the first group comprises an EtihadWE-led consortium, alongside China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) and China Railway Construction Corporation 11th Bureau Group (CRCC 11) as EPC contractors. France’s Veolia would act as operator.

    MEED understands that Plenary Group will lead a second bidding consortium, while DeTech Contracting and Kalyon Construction (Turkey) are also preparing to bid for EPC works on the project, sources said.

    The three packages are being procured under 30-year design, build, finance, operate and maintain concession models.

    The DSST project aims to convert Dubai’s sewerage system from a pumped network to a gravity-based system, enabling the emirate to replace existing sewage pumping stations and meet long-term capacity needs.

    The programme also marks the first time the municipality will implement In-Country Value (ICV), a local content programme that promotes economic benefits.

    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:

    > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge
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    Mark Dowdall
  • Larsen & Toubro announces EPC agreement with PDO

    31 July 2026

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    Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has announced that it has signed a six-year engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) framework agreement with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).

    Under the agreement, L&T said its subsidiary, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon Onshore, has been selected as one of four EPC contractors to participate in PDO’s upcoming front-end engineering and design (feed) and EPC projects over the agreement period.

    MEED recently reported that Mumbai-headquartered L&T had become the fourth contractor to join the pool of EPC service providers created by PDO to facilitate the tendering and award of future greenfield and brownfield projects within its Block 6 concession in the sultanate.

    Prior to picking L&T, majority state-owned PDO selected the following contractors:

    • Engineering for the Petroleum & Process Industries (Enppi) (Egypt) / Petrojet (Egypt)
    • GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
    • Jereh (China)

    L&T was previously expected to join these contractors in the initial round of framework agreement signings that took place on 19 July, but it later engaged in a final round of discussions with PDO over terms and conditions, sources previously told MEED.

    “L&T remains committed to supporting In-Country Value (ICV) development in Oman through opportunities for local suppliers, subcontractors and service providers, and the continued development of local capabilities,” the Bombay Stock Exchange-listed company said on 31 July.

    Separately, the Egyptian consortium of Enppi and Petrojet confirmed its EPC framework agreement with PDO, adding that its duration is six years.

    Contractors holding EPC framework agreements will be invited by PDO to participate in tenders for up to eight projects under the arrangement, which are estimated to have a combined value of up to $6bn.

    The framework pool of contractors will be structured similarly to the Long-Term Agreement pool of EPC service providers operated by Saudi Aramco for its offshore and onshore projects.

    MEED previously reported that contractors submitted proposals for the EPC framework structure by 27 April.

    Before that, PDO issued the tender for the proposed EPC framework agreement on 22 February, setting a deadline of 9 March for technical clarifications and a cut-off date of 11 March to confirm or decline participation, according to sources.

    MEED reported last year that PDO had issued a prequalification document on 17 April 2025, outlining its requirements, criteria, planned projects and other aspects of the EPC framework agreement. At that time, PDO aimed to appoint two tiers of contractors for two categories of projects, known as Wave 1 and Wave 2.

    PDO’s Wave 1 and Wave 2 projects are as follows:

    Raba hub development – Oil

    The Raba hub project forms part of the Qarn Alam growth development in the northern area of the PDO concession. The strategy covers nearby fields, including Raba Infill and Raba East.

    Production from Raba Infill will be routed to the existing Raba gathering station (RGS), while output from Raba East will be directed to the proposed Raba hub station (RHS).

    Modifications to the RGS are planned to accommodate additional volumes from Raba Infill. An interconnection between the RGS and RHS is also proposed to enhance operational flexibility. The project is expected to unlock an estimated 176 million barrels of unconventional reserves and increase production by about 50,400 barrels a day (b/d) by 2029.

    Wadi Umairi development – Oil and gas

    Scope includes oil and gas processing facilities such as separators, storage tanks, water injection pumps, a gas sweetening unit, off-plot infrastructure and utilities.

    Rabab Harweel Integrated Project (RHIP) tranche 2 – Oil and gas

    The RHIP involves miscible gas injection at several fields and is divided into two tranches. Tranche 2, scheduled to come on stream from 2028, aims to expand oil production capacity and enhance gas injection.

    The scope also includes sustaining gas supply from the reservoir through the installation of a depletion compression facility and expansion of the off-plot gas network.

    Bout full-field development – Oil and gas

    Scope includes remote manifold stations (RMSs), a gathering station, multiport selector valves, water injection manifolds, separators, a hydrocyclone package, water injection pumps and utilities.

    Dulaima carbon dioxide-based enhanced oil recovery – Carbon capture, utilisation and storage 

    Scope includes a processing facility to handle incremental hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide (CO2) volumes, including CO2 recycle injection.

    Makarem development – Sour oil and gas

    Scope includes a gathering station, RMSs, water injection systems, manifolds, pumps, separators and utilities. It also involves a greenfield sour gas facility with gas sweetening and sulphur recovery units.

    Amal South-East Development South – Gas

    Hawqa Hasirah Development South – Gas

    PDO previously intended to tender a project to build a new facility to handle additional oil production at the Al-Ghubar field reservoir in the Ghaba salt basin of Qarn Alam under its framework structure with selected EPC contractors, but eventually tendered it separately.

    PDO is the operator of the Block 6 hydrocarbons concession in Oman, which is the sultanate’s largest and most prolific concession. Situated onshore and covering an area of 75,119 square kilometres, Block 6 contains 202 oil fields and 43 gas fields, with PDO producing a total of approximately 680,000 b/d of oil and condensates from those fields.

    The Omani government holds a 60% stake in PDO. The other shareholders are UK-based Shell (34%), France’s TotalEnergies (4%) and Thai state-owned PTTEP (2%).

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17873448/main2634.jpg
    Indrajit Sen