Monthly briefing: 22 key developments in the region
28 September 2022
By Indrajit Sen
> Opec+ agrees minor production increase
> King appoints crown prince as Saudi prime minister
> Lebanon parliament approves $1.2bn draft budget
> Iraq court rules against national oil company
> Libya oil production continues to grow
> President approves Egypt's Olympic plans
> Dubai prepares hydrogen strategy
> GCC central banks raise interest rates
> UK and GCC hold ministerial meeting at the UN
OIL
Oil producers will raise output by 100,000b/d in October
The Opec+ alliance of oil producers decided in September that it would increase oil production by just 100,000 barrels a day (b/d) in October to support crude prices, which have fluctuated in recent weeks amid fears that a global economic recession will curb demand for oil.
Opec+ members also increased overall oil production by 100,000b/d in September.
The alliance agreed to increase its July and August crude production by about 50 per cent to 648,000b/d, fully restoring the 5.8 million b/d output that the group had cut at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more
IRAN
Deadly protests follow woman’s death in custody
Thirty-five people have been killed in protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody on 16 September.
Protests have been reported in 31 provinces.
The 22-year-old Amini had been detained for breaking headscarf rules and was reportedly beaten with batons.
Officials said she suffered heart failure and Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has stated that she was not beaten.
President Ebrahim Raisi pledged to crack down on the unrest on 24 September.
The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported on 25 September that there had been large-scale demonstrations to condemn the protests.

21 September: Iranian demonstrators take to the streets of Tehran during a protest for Mahsa Amini, days after she died in police custody. Credit: AFP via Getty Images
SALIK IPO
Dubai toll operator raises over $1bn from oversubscribed stock listing
Dubai toll operator Salik raised $1.017bn from its initial public offering (IPO) on the Dubai Financial Market, as part of a series of IPOs of state enterprises aimed at boosting the size of the emirate's capital market.
The IPO was more than 49 times oversubscribed across all tranches, with total gross demand at $50.2bn.
The company had set its offering price at AED2 ($0.54) a share, giving it a valuation of more than $4bn.
The emirate's government sold more than 1.867 billion shares in the company, or 24.9 per cent, up from the previously announced 1.5 billion shares, equivalent to 20 per cent.
ARAB PEACE
Saudi Arabia, Arab League and EU hold meeting in New York
Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud and Arab League secretary-general Ahmed Aboul Gheit attended a meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee and its sponsors in the EU. The meeting took place at the UN General Assembly in New York.
The Arab Peace Initiative, which Saudi Arabia launched in 2002, is a proposal to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. The members of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee are Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iraq, Palestine, Qatar, Lebanon, Morocco and Yemen. The initiative is sponsored by Spain, Sweden and France.
GCC
Two years of high oil prices set to improve regional outlook
Rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has said that elevated oil prices during the next two years will lead to a significant improvement in the fiscal and external positions of GCC sovereigns, partly reversing the sharp deterioration in their balance sheets since 2015.
Improvements in creditworthiness will hinge on the extent to which regional governments utilise the windfall to address constraints posed by their exposure to cyclical oil price and demand volatility, and by longer-term carbon transition risks, Moody’s said.
The agency expects oil prices to average about $105 a barrel in 2022 and $95 a barrel in 2023. As a result, most hydrocarbon-exporting countries in the GCC will run fiscal and current account surpluses, allowing governments to pay down debts, rebuild fiscal reserves and accumulate foreign-currency buffers.
GULF BANKS
Regional banks are returning to pre-pandemic form
After a strong first half, ratings agency S&P Global expects that earnings for most GCC banks will almost reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year amid high oil prices and rising interest rates.
In the second half of 2022, S&P forecasts further strengthening of regional banks’ interest margins and a manageable rise in cost of risk amid lingering effects from the Covid-19 pandemic via loans that benefited from support measures and were then restructured. Combined, these factors will be a net positive for banks’ earnings.
SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi infrastructure and property projects top $1.1tn
The aggregate value of property and infrastructure projects since the launch of Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Plan in 2016 has crossed $1.1tn as the kingdom continues to diversify its economy, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank.
The $500bn Neom city development is the biggest of 15 major projects in Saudi Arabia that are currently at various phases of construction. The kingdom plans to have more than 555,000 residential units, 275,000 hotel rooms, 4.3 million square metres (sq m) of retail and 6.1 million sq m of new office space by 2030.
The country is also developing several large-scale tourism projects as it seeks to increase the economic contribution of the sector from 3 per cent of GDP to 10 per cent by the end of this decade.
JERUSALEM
UK prime minister considers relocating British embassy
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is considering moving the British embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Truss spoke about a possible move to the contested city during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.
Despite Israel having designated Jerusalem as its capital, Britain has long maintained its embassy in Tel Aviv.
When he was president of the US, Donald Trump took the controversial decision to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018.
Both Israelis and Palestinians claim the city as their capital.
SAUDI ARABIA
First Saudi woman to be sent to space in a crewed mission
Saudi Arabia plans to send a woman into space for the first time as part of its new mission programme.
A crew will be launched next year that will include the first Saudi female pilot and astronaut.
The kingdom’s astronaut programme aims to produce qualified Saudi citizens who will take part in short- and long-term space flights, as well as participate in scientific experiments, international research and future space-related missions.
The new programme comes under the umbrella of Saudi Vision 2030 and will fall under the National Space Strategy, the details of which will be announced in the coming months.
FIFA WORLD CUP
Qatar to shut borders to non-World Cup ticket holders
Entry to Qatar will be restricted from 1 November to citizens, residents and holders of the World Cup Hayya card, the tournament’s organising committee has announced.
The suspension of visits by people not attending Fifa World Cup matches will continue until 23 December, five days after the final match takes place in Doha.
The restrictions apply to all air, land and sea borders into Qatar.
Football fans in possession of a match ticket for the World Cup must also apply for a Hayya entry permit – a pre-approved digital visa linked to a passport that offers free public transport around the country.
The Hayya card allows entry into Qatar until 23 January 2023.
Qatari citizens and residents, GCC citizens holding a Qatari identification card, holders of work entry permits and personal visas, and approved humanitarian cases will be exempt from the restrictions.
Exclusive from Meed
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Riyadh Royal Commission awards metro Line 2 extension
18 July 2025
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Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) has awarded an estimated $800m-$900m contract to build the next phase of the Riyadh Metro project, which is the Line 2 extension.
The contract was awarded to the Arriyadh New Mobility Consortium.
The Line 2 extension is 8.4 kilometres (km) long, of which 1.3km is elevated and 7.1km is underground. It includes five stations – two elevated and three underground.
It will run from where Line 2 currently ends at King Saud University (KSU) and then travel onwards to new stations at KSU Medical City, KSU West, Diriyah East, Diriyah Central, where it interchanges with the planned Line 7, and then finally to Diriyah South.
According to the consortium’s official website, the consortium members include Italy’s Webuild, India’s Larsen & Toubro, locally based Nesma & Partners, Japan’s Hitachi, Italy’s Ansaldo STS, the Canadian firm Bombardier, Spain’s Idom and WorleyParsons from Australia.
Riyadh Metro Transit Consultants (RMTC), which is a joint venture between the US-based firm Parsons and the French engineering firms Egis and Systra, is the project management and construction supervision consultant.
RMTC has previously worked as a project management and construction supervision consultant on Lines 1, 2 and 3 of the Riyadh Metro scheme.
In 2013, the Arriyadh New Mobility Consortium secured Riyadh Metro’s Line 3 project for $5.21bn.
Line 3, also known as the Orange Line, stretches from east to west, from Jeddah Road to the Second Eastern Ring Road, covering a total distance of 41km.
Riyadh Metro
Riyadh Metro’s first phase features six lines with 84 stations.
The RCRC completed the phased rollout of the Riyadh Metro network when it started operating the Orange Line on 5 January.
In December last year, the RCRC started operating the Red Line and Green Line.
The Red Line, also known as Line 2, stretches 25.1km from the east of Riyadh to the west, via King Abdullah Road, connecting King Fahd Sports City and King Saud University. It has a total of 15 stations.
The Green Line, also known as Line 5, extends 13.3km from King Abdullah Road to the National Museum. With 12 stations, it serves several ministries and government agencies, including the Defence Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Commerce Ministry, as well as other areas.
Earlier in December, the RCRC started operating the Blue Line (Line 1), Yellow Line (Line 4) and Purple Line (Line 6).
The Blue Line connects Olaya Street to Batha; the Yellow Line runs along King Khalid International Airport Road; while the Purple Line connects Abdul Rahman Bin Awf Road with Al-Sheikh Hassan Bin Hussain Road.
King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud inaugurated the Riyadh Metro on 27 November last year.
The network spans 176km. Four of the stations have been designed by signature architects.
The metro is part of the Riyadh Public Transport Project, which encompasses metro and bus systems. The project aims to relieve traffic congestion.
The $23bn project was scheduled to open in 2018, but construction activity slowed due to disputes over prolongation and the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The RCRC awarded the main construction packages for the scheme on 28 July 2013.
In November 2022, the RCRC struck a deal with three contracting consortiums working on the Riyadh Metro scheme regarding the completion of the project’s remaining works.
The Fast consortium won lines 4, 5 and 6, reportedly valued at $7.82bn. The Bacs consortium was awarded lines 1 and 2 for $9.45bn, while Arriyadh New Mobility secured Line 3 for $5.21bn.
US firm Bechtel leads the Bacs consortium. Italian firm Ansaldo STS is the leader of the Arriyadh New Mobility group, and Spanish firm FCC Construccion heads the Fast consortium.
AtkinsRealis has delivered programme management and supervision services for the operations and maintenance of the Riyadh Metro scheme.
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Firms submit bids for Maaden gold project water pipeline
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Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) has received proposals from local firms for a water pipeline network it plans to build as part of a larger project to develop a new gold mining and processing facility in the Al-Rjum region of the kingdom.
The Al-Rjum gold mining and processing facility, located in Medina province, is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2027. It will become the largest gold mining operation in Saudi Arabia when operational.
According to sources, the pipeline is to be developed using a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works will have a duration of 38 months, followed by a 20-year operations and maintenance period.
Lamar Holding and Alkhorayef are understood to be the only bidders for the proposed Taif to Al-Rjum water pipeline, which forms package B of the Maaden gold mining project.
The two contractors submitted bids for the water pipeline project on 1 July, sources told MEED.
The main scope of work involves building a 150-kilometre pipeline that will supply treated sewage effluent water to the Al-Rjum gold mining facility.
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The Al-Rjum gold mining and processing facility will have an output capacity of 250,000 ounces of gold a year. The project will increase Maaden’s total gold production to 700,000 ounces a year by 2028, helping the company support Saudi Arabia’s overall goal of doubling gold production by 2030 and achieving a four-fold increase in output by 2040.
MEED recently reported that Maaden had received bids for a tender to develop accommodation facilities for over 4,500 of its workers at the upcoming Al-Rjum gold mining and processing facility.
Bids for the Al-Rjum worker accommodation tender, which is also under the BOOT model, were submitted in late June. The operations and maintenance period for this contract is 15 years.
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Bahrain and US sign nuclear energy agreement
17 July 2025
Bahrain and the US have signed a cooperation agreement covering the field of peaceful nuclear energy.
The agreement aims to enhance collaboration in nuclear energy, recognising its vital role in sustainable development and energy security. It aligns with Bahrain's ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 and contributes to global efforts to combat climate change.
As Bahrain explores alternative energy sources, senior officials have previously indicated to MEED that they are closely monitoring developments in small modular reactor (SMR) technology. This is particularly crucial for Bahrain, where limited land availability poses challenges for solar energy projects. Floating solar plants have been identified as a potential solution, but the exploration of nuclear energy and SMRs remains a priority for future energy diversification.
The agreement was signed during an official visit to the US by Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the crown prince and prime minister of Bahrain.
The agreement was formalised by Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Bahrain’s minister of foreign affairs, and Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state.
Al-Zayani added that the agreement builds upon the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement (C-SIPA) signed in 2023. The agreement aims to strengthen cooperation in defence, security, emerging technologies, trade and investment.
READ THE JULY 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF
UAE and Turkiye expand business links; Renewed hope lies on the horizon for trouble-beset Levant region; Gulf real estate momentum continues even as concerns emerge
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the July 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
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Kuwaiti firm wins $53m Duqm coastal road contract
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Kuwaiti contractor Combined Group Contracting Company (CGCC) has won a RO20.6m ($53m) contract to construct coastal roads in Duqm.The scope of work covers the construction of roads with a total length of 14 kilometres, including a coastal road, a proposed service road, an extension to an existing service road, a resort street, four roundabouts, future extensions and proposed links.
The contract duration is two years from the start date of construction.
MEED reported in August 2023 that CGCC had emerged as the lowest bidder for the project.
GlobalData estimates that the construction industry in Oman will grow by 3.6% in real terms in 2025, supported by rising foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country, particularly in the manufacturing sector, as well as investment in the energy and transport sectors.
The infrastructure construction sector is estimated to grow by 5.7% in 2025, before recording an annual average growth of 5.2% between 2026 and 2029, supported by the government’s investment in upgrading road and airport infrastructure.
CGCC’s contract win in Oman comes shortly after a key contract win in the UAE, worth AED685m ($186m).
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The contract duration is 25 months.
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Algeria awards $855m contract for gas production project
17 July 2025
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Algeria’s national oil and gas company Sonatrach has awarded an $855m contract to China’s Jereh Group for a project to develop facilities at the Rhourde Nouss gas field.
Jereh Group said that its subsidiary Jereh Oil & Gas Engineering will build a natural gas booster station in the Rhourde Nouss gas field and upgrade and renovate related transmission pipelines.
The Yantai-based company cited a letter of award from Sonatrach and said that the contract will boost the company's footprint in North Africa’s oil and gas engineering service sector.
The Rhourde Nouss boosting project will centralise the boosting of natural gas produced by the gas field and the adjacent Gassi Touil gas field, to improve their production efficiency and natural gas processing capacity, the company said.
Sonatrach, the largest gas producing company in Africa and the largest state-owned enterprise in Algeria, will pay $629.1m and $226m for the construction of the project, Jereh said.
Jereh's growing footprint
Jereh has been expanding overseas in recent years and has won contracts with major Middle Eastern oil and gas clients, including Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
In June 2021, the company was awarded a contract for the design, procurement and construction of a gas debottlenecking project in Algeria.
The project was located in the Bir Rebaa Nord and Rhourde Ouled Djemma fields, which are located in the eastern Algerian desert, about 300 kilometres southeast of Hessi Messaoud.
The client on that project was Groupement Sonatrach Eni, a joint venture of Sonatrach and Italian energy company Eni.
READ THE JULY 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF
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Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the July 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: UAE-Turkiye trade gains momentum> INTERVIEW 1: Building on UAE-Turkiye trade> INTERVIEW 2: Turkiye's Kalyon goes global> INTERVIEW 3: Strengthening UAE-Turkiye financial links> INTERVIEW 4: Turkish Airlines plans further growth> CURRENT AFFAIRS: Middle East tensions could reduce gas investments> GCC REAL ESTATE: Gulf real estate faces a more nuanced reality> PROJECTS MARKET: GCC projects market collapses> INTERVIEW 5: Hassan Allam eyes role in Saudi Arabia’s transformation> INTERVIEW 6: Aseer region seeks new investments for Saudi Arabia> LEADERSHIP: Nuclear power makes a global comeback> LEVANT MARKET FOCUS: Levant states wrestle regional pressures> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects index continues climb> CONTRACT AWARDS: Mena contract award activity remains subdued> ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects> OPINION: A farcical tragedy that no one can endTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14278458/main.jpg