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Monthly briefing: 14 key developments in the region

21 November 2022

By MEED staff

> Lukewarm Cop27 ends

> UAE and US sign $100bn energy programme

> BlackRock looks to invest in projects with PIF

> Riyadh signs construction deals during Seoul visit

> Middle East outpaces global economic growth

> Riyadh Grade A office occupancy hits 98 per cent

> Dubai developer plans world's tallest residential building

> Saudi Arabia launches national automaker

> Alba reaches Block 4 financial close

> Partners award contracts for $8.5bn US chemicals project

> Investors launch Sohar industrial projects

> Aramco and IBM plan Riyadh innovation hub

COP27

Egypt climate conference ends with agreement on payout

Negotiators from nearly 200 countries at the 2022 UN climate summit Cop27, which took place in Egypt on 6-18 November, have agreed to set up a loss and damage fund aimed at helping vulnerable countries to cope with climate disasters. They also agreed that global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut nearly in half by 2030. 

The agreement also reaffirmed the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. However, a deal to phase out the use of fossil fuels, and not just coal, could not be agreed upon after a number of nations, including China and Saudi Arabia, blocked the proposal. Read more



The Middle East was thrust firmly onto the global stage on 20 November when football’s 2022 World Cup kicked off in Qatar  

Region pitches to be global sporting hub

OIL

Opec and non-Opec partners cut 2 million b/d of production

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, has started to cut its exports as Opec+ begins to reduce its overall target production by 2 million barrels a day (b/d).  

Saudi Arabia had cut its crude oil exports by more than 400,000 b/d by the third week of November, while exports from Opec could be on course to drop by 1 million b/d.  

In October, Opec+ announced it would slash its collective target by 2 million b/d from November. Although the actual reduction is expected to be about 1.1 million b/d, it is still the biggest cut since the record reduction announced in April 2020, when oil demand plunged at the start of the pandemic. 

UAE-US DEAL

UAE and US sign $100bn clean energy partnership

The UAE and the US have signed a partnership that aims to catalyse $100bn in financing and other support, in addition to deploying 100GW of clean energy in the US, UAE and emerging economies around the world by 2035. They also reaffirmed their commitment to climate action, in line with their 2050 net-zero goals. 

The two countries plan to stimulate private and public sector support in four areas: clean energy innovation, financing, deployment and supply chains; carbon and methane management; advanced reactors; and industrial and transport decarbonisation. Read more

PIF-BLACKROCK PARTNERSHIP

PIF and BlackRock agree to explore infrastructure projects 

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with US asset manager BlackRock to jointly explore infrastructure projects in the Middle East, with a majority of the investment activity focused on Saudi Arabia.

The target projects are in several sectors, including energy, power, utilities, water, environment, transportation, telecommunications and social infrastructure. 

BlackRock will look to build a dedicated infrastructure investment team in Riyadh to cover the Middle East region.

In a statement, the PIF said that the aim is to leverage positive Saudi and regional market dynamics to deliver sustainable long-term returns.

The sovereign wealth fund added that the two entities plan to work together to attract regional and international investors to participate in investment projects, and boost foreign direct investment into Saudi Arabia. 

This will add value to the Saudi economy and the wider market while facilitating knowledge and skills transfer. Read more

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

IMF predicts economic growth for the Middle East in 2022

The real GDP of oil exporting countries in the Middle East is projected to grow at 5.2 per cent in 2022, up from 4.5 per cent in 2021, according to the Washington-based IMF. 

Growth is projected to slow to 3.5 per cent in 2023 as Opec+ production wanes, oil prices ease and global demand slows. 

Crude producers are projected to accrue a cumulative oil windfall of about $1tn in 2022−26, which the IMF said oil-exporting countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE could use to continue to invest in projects that support future economic growth. Read more

SAUDI-KOREA PROJECTS

Deals worth $30bn signed during royal visit to Seoul

Agreements totalling an estimated $30bn were signed during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud’s visit to Seoul, South Korea on 17 November. 

The biggest deal was a commitment from Saudi Aramco to invest $7bn in building an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in South Korea through its local affiliate S-Oil.

The new plant will have capacity to produce 3.2 million tonnes a year of petrochemicals.

Five South Korean companies – Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco), Korea Southern Power Company, Korea National Oil Corporation, Posco Holdings and Samsung C&T Corporation – have also signed agreements with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to build and operate a green hydrogen and green ammonia production facility in Saudi Arabia. Read more

RIYADH REAL ESTATE

Riyadh Grade A office occupancy hits 98 per cent

Occupancy levels for prime office space in Riyadh have risen by four percentage points to 98 per cent according to a report by property consultancy Knight Frank. 

Average lease rates for prime office space have increased by 18 per cent over the past 12 months to about SR1,775 ($473) a square foot. The company said there is unprecedented demand for Grade A office space. 

“As the kingdom’s economic transformation plan unfolds, business activity is rising at an extraordinary pace. Seventy firms have now committed to relocating their regional headquarters to Riyadh, including Aldeham Education Group and French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom,” Knight Frank said. Read more

UAE

Dubai developer plans world’s tallest residential building

Local real estate developer Binghatti and jewellery brand Jacob & Co have announced plans to build the world’s tallest residential structure in Dubai’s Business Bay district.

Known as Burj Binghatti Jacob & Co Residences, the tower will comprise more than 100 storeys and will offer two- and three-bedroom apartments. Amenities in the building will include an infinity pool, a spa and a gymnasium.

Companies recently moved onsite in Business Bay to work on a 116-storey tower for Binghatti. The contractor is Granada Europe Construction. The consultant is Silver Stone Engineering Consultants. Read more

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Saudi Arabia launches electric vehicle manufacturer

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud has announced the launch of Ceer, the first Saudi electric vehicle brand. Ceer is the first Saudi automotive brand to produce electric vehicles in Saudi Arabia.

The company is a joint venture of Saudi sovereign wealth entity the Public Investment Fund and Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, which trades as Foxconn internationally.

Foxconn will license component technology from BMW for use in the vehicle development process, with the first vehicles – sedans and sports utility vehicles – expected to be available in 2025.

Foxconn will develop the electrical architecture of the vehicles, which will feature infotainment, connectivity and autonomous driving technologies.

Ceer is expected to attract over $150m in foreign direct investment and create up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs. Read more

Further reading

Alba agrees Block 4 financing

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has reached financial close on the 681MW combined-cycle gas turbine plant that comprises Block 4 of the smelter’s Power Station 5. China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) will provide a $225m facility.

Contracts awarded for US plant

QatarEnergy and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company have reached final investment decision on the Golden Triangle Polymers Plant, an $8.5bn integrated polymers facility in the US. The plant will include the biggest ethylene cracker in the world with a capacity of 2.1 million tonnes a year.

Investors launch Sohar projects

Investors have launched two non-oil industrial projects in Sohar Freezone in Oman. The sultanate’s first petroleum coke calcining facility will be built at a total investment of about $155.9m, while a titanium dioxide production facility will be established at a cost of $112m.

Aramco plans innovation hub

Saudi Aramco and US technology company IBM plan to establish an innovation hub in Riyadh. The hub will support tech-driven economic growth in Saudi Arabia with the help of emerging technologies in hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

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    Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has backed Neom by including it as one of six strategic ecosystems in its newly approved 2026-30 strategy.

    The future of the $500bn gigaproject had been thrown into doubt following the postponement of the 2029 Asian Winter Games at the Trojena mountain resort, the cancellation of construction contracts – such as the $5bn deal with Italian contractor Webuild for dam works at Trojena – and the slowdown of development at The Line, where tunnelling contracts were cancelled and staff left the project.

    The backing comes as Neom’s operational focus appears to be evolving in response to shifting regional dynamics and global economic conditions. For example, on 15 April Neom posted on its official X account about a new Europe-Egypt-Neom-GCC corridor, describing it as a faster route for time-sensitive goods. It said the corridor combines trucking and ferry services to move goods quickly into the Gulf, adding that importers from several European markets are already using it to reach the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman and beyond.

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    PIF’s broader 2026-30 strategy places heavy emphasis on “delivering competitive domestic ecosystems to connect sectors, unlock the full potential of strategic assets, maximise long-term returns and continue to drive the economic transformation of Saudi Arabia”.

    The inclusion of Neom as a standalone ecosystem within the Vision Portfolio suggests that while the project remains part of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals, it will be subject to the fund's focus on working with the private sector.

    That means the long-term success of Neom will increasingly depend on its ability to attract external investment and function as a viable economic hub rather than just a state-funded construction site.

    MEED’s April 2026 report on Saudi Arabia includes:

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  • Kuwait gas project worth $3.3bn put on hold

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    State-owned Kuwait Gulf Oil Company’s (KGOC’s) planned tender for the development of an onshore gas plant next to the Al-Zour refinery has been put on hold due to uncertainty created by the US and Israel’s war with Iran, according to industry sources.

    The project budget is estimated to be $3.3bn, and the last meeting with contractors to discuss the project took place in Kuwait on 10 February.

    Previously, it was expected to be tendered in late March, but the tendering process was delayed due to the regional conflict and disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

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    Ownership of the field is disputed by Iran, which refers to the field as Arash.

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    Iraq is pushing to revive an oil pipeline that passes through Saudi Arabia, allowing it to diversify export routes.

    Saheb Bazoun, a spokesman for Iraq’s Oil Ministry, said the pipeline would help to insulate Iraq from any future blockades of the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely closed since 28 February.

    The original pipeline through Saudi Arabia has not been used for more than 30 years and would need work to be done in order to bring it online.

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    The pipeline was built in two phases during the 1980s. The first phase stretches between Zubair and Khurais, while the second extends to Yanbu. The pipeline’s operating capacity reached over 1.6 million barrels a day (b/d).

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  • Algeria opens bidding for water treatment plant

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    State-owned Cosider Pipelines, part of Algeria’s public infrastructure group Cosider, has issued a tender for the construction of a demineralisation plant in In Salah in Algeria.

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  • WEBINAR: UAE Projects Market 2026

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    Webinar: UAE Projects Market 2026
    Tuesday, 28 April 2026 | 11:00 GST  |  Register now

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    Colin Foreman is editor and a specialist construction journalist for news and analysis on MEED.com and the MEED Business Review magazine. He has been reporting on the region since 2003, specialising in the construction sector and its impact on the broader economy. He has reported exclusively on a wide range of projects across the region including Dubai Metro, the Burj Khalifa, Jeddah Airport, Doha Metro, Hamad International airport and Yas Island. Before joining MEED, Colin reported on the construction sector in Hong Kong.

    Click here to register

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