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• 
  WEBINAR: Mena Oil & Gas Projects Market 2026-27

  10 August 2026

  Webinar: Mena Oil & Gas Projects Market 2026-27 
  Thursday 27 August 2026 | 11:00 AM GST  |  Register now

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  Agenda:

  • Summary of the Mena oil, gas and petrochemicals projects market 
  • Overview of major megaprojects, including project programmes
  • Analysis of active contracts and spending to date
  • Review of top contracts by work already awarded
  • Long-term capital expenditure outlays and forecasts
  • Key contracts expected to be tendered and awarded over the next 18 months
  • Leading clients, contractors and market participants
  • Spending by segment: oil, gas and petrochemicals (upstream, downstream, onshore and offshore) 
  • Audience Q&A 

  Hosted by: Indrajit Sen, MEED’s oil & gas editor

  Click here to register

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Spanish firm renews Yanbu desalination O&M contract

  10 August 2026

  Spain’s Aqualia has announced it has renewed a contract to operate and maintain three floating desalination plants in Yanbu on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.

  The contract was awarded by the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) and will run until 14 September 2028, with an option to extend for a further two years.

  The three reverse osmosis (RO) plants are mounted on barges and have a combined production capacity of 150,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d). Each plant has a capacity of 50,000 cm/d.

  The three plants were originally deployed at Al-Shuqaiq and are designed to be relocated along Saudi Arabia’s coastline according to water demand. The barges are currently located at Yanbu.

  The $255m floating desalination project was commissioned for the Saudi Water Authority in 2022, with Bahri as the developer and UAE-based Metitio as the main contractor.

  Bahri is publicly listed on the Saudi Exchange but has significant government ownership, with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) holding 22.5% and Saudi Aramco Development Company owning 20% of the company.

  Aqualia is providing operation and maintenance services in Saudi Arabia through its joint venture Haji Abdullah Alireza Integrated Services Company (Haaisco), in which it holds a 51% stake.

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  Mark Dowdall
• 
  Kuwait shows tentative signs of economic development

  7 August 2026

  

   

  Kuwait was one of the chief targets of Iranian drone and missile strikes during July, but against the backdrop of regional instability, the Kuwaiti authorities also managed to conclude a series of significant deals during the month. That suggests that, if the US and Iran can come to some sort of agreement to end their conflict, there is the potential for the Kuwaiti economy to diversify and expand in a way that it has, until now, struggled to do.

  The sense of nascent progress was bolstered in early August, when a survey of local businesses found that the non-oil sector had returned to growth at the start of the third quarter, having been in a slump since the start of the war. However, the risk of renewed fighting means most observers remain deeply cautious about whether the latest purchasing managers index (PMI) is just a blip, or the start of a longer trend.

  Debt deals

  The first big deal came on 22 July, when the government sold $6bn-worth of bonds. It was the second debt issuance by the authorities since a long-awaited public debt law was passed by decree last year. The latest package included debt with tenors of three, five and 10 years. In a sign of the turbulent geopolitical environment, the bonds were priced at 70-85 basis points over US Treasuries. Notably higher than the 40-50 basis point spread the government achieved in its bond sale late last year.

  The second significant development came just a few days later, with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) unveiling a $16bn deal with international investors Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR for its crude oil pipeline network. In a similar structure to deals struck in the past by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Saudi Aramco, KOC will lease the country’s domestic and export pipelines to a new joint venture it has set up with the trio of international partners. The Kuwaiti energy company will then lease back the pipelines on an exclusive basis, in return for a volume-based tariff.

  KOC will have a 51% stake in the joint venture and – in line with Kuwaiti law – will retain full ownership and operational control of the 320-kilometre network.

  It was the largest energy infrastructure deal ever agreed in Kuwait and, according to KOC, the largest foreign direct investment made in the country. The $7.85bn that the three international partners will invest upfront will be used to support KOC parent company Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s wider capital expenditure plans.

  The fact that the country was able to secure the deal at a time when its only existing export route – through the Strait of Hormuz – has been effectively closed off is an important vote of confidence by investors in the country’s longer-term prospects. According to energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, Kuwait’s crude export volumes had fallen from 1.2 million barrels a day before the year to zero in April.

  It was the largest energy infrastructure deal ever agreed in Kuwait and, according to KOC, the largest foreign direct investment made in the country

  UK-based Oxford Economics noted that the bond issue and the pipeline deal came at a time when Kuwait “faces elevated fiscal funding needs and remains one of the GCC’s most exposed oil exporters to any disruption in the Strait of Hormuz given its limited alternative export infrastructure”.

  Blackstone said it also plans to open an office in Kuwait this year. There was a further show of investor interest in early August, when the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) reportedly agreed a $4.25bn, three-year loan from a group of 14 banks. The facility will be used for general corporate purposes, according to Bloomberg.

  In a further notable development, Kuwait’s Ministry of Public Works also handed a contract in late July to China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) to build the country’s largest wastewater treatment plant. The North Kabd plant will have a capacity of up to 1 million cubic metres a day (cm/d). Kuwaiti water desalination plants have been hit on several occasions by Iranian drones during this year’s war, causing fires and other damage.

  Policy reforms

  On a smaller level, some notable reforms have been rolled out to try to shape the direction of the non-oil economy too. In late July, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry stopped issuing any more sole-trader or freelance business licences, while a review is carried out into the sector and official oversight is tightened.

  The authorities went a step further on 2 August, when a decree was issued to stop businesses offering goods and services without the right sort of licence. Anyone found to be working without the required permit could now face a prison term of up to three years and a fine of up to KD100,000 ($323,000) – or a sum equivalent to the profits generated by the unlicensed activity, whichever is greater.

  Some steps have been taken to ease restrictions in other areas. In early August, a change to the visa system was announced that will allow some foreign nationals to convert a visit visa into a regular residency permit in return for a fee of KD150. The measure proved immediately popular, but many applicants had failed to read the small print and, according to local media reports, several hundred were rejected. The scheme is primarily aimed at those seeking to bring their wives or children to Kuwait, as well as humanitarian cases and others with exceptional circumstances.

  Economic recovery

  The wider economy is showing tentative signs of improvement. The latest PMI survey delivered an unexpectedly strong result, showing that the non-oil private sector returned to growth in July for the first time since the war began.

  S&P Global Market Intelligence, which compiles the index, said the resumption of flights at Kuwait International airport had helped to support a rise in output and new orders – the first for five months. That in turn supported greater purchasing and hiring activity by local businesses and took the index up to 50.8 points – just above the 50-point threshold that separates growth from contraction.

  Even so, S&P warned that market conditions remain “challenging” while local bank NBK Capital warned in early August that “it remains to be seen how much of this improvement [in the PMI] will be sustained … following the reescalation in US-Iran tensions in the past weeks”.

  If the Kuwaiti economy is to make the most of its potential, the country needs the war between Iran and the US to come to a definitive end.

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  MEED’s September 2026 report on Kuwait also includes:

  > BANKING: Necessity is the mother of invention for Kuwaiti lenders
  > OIL & GAS: Regional war to have lasting impact on Kuwaiti oil sector
  > CONSTRUCTION: Kuwait construction holds up despite regional strife

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  Dominic Dudley
• 
  Contractors submit bids for Adnoc Onshore field facilities project

  7 August 2026

  

   

  Contractors have submitted technical bids to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s onshore business (Adnoc Onshore) for a key 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.

  Contractors submitted technical bids for the project by the final deadline of 5 August set by Adnoc Onshore, according to sources.

  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.

  Prior to that, Adnoc Onshore issued an 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 cancelled an 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.

  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 33kV 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 includes tying in more than 150 wells across the area’s fields, upgrading remote and central degassing stations, laying more than 270 kilometres of flowlines, digitising wells for remote monitoring, and implementing 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 Southeast 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
• 
  Consultant progresses work on Petro Rabigh project

  7 August 2026

  

   

  Saudi Arabia's Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh) is overseeing progress on a project to build additional units at its integrated refining and petrochemical complex in Rabigh, on the kingdom’s Red Sea coast.

  Petro Rabigh, which is majority-owned by Saudi Aramco, appointed Australia-headquartered Worley to provide engineering and project management consultancy (PMC) services for the project in the first quarter of this year, sources told MEED.

  The overall scope of work on the project covers the construction of the following units:

  • Light naphtha isomerisation unit
  • De-asphalting and dewaxing unit
  • Ebullated bed configuration
  • Sulphur block (SRU/ARU/SWS/SFU)
  • Sales gas allocation and pipeline construction
  • Utilities unit outside battery limit
  • Auxiliary piping modifications
  • Utility and hydrocarbon tie-ins.

  Under the contract, the consultant will perform engineering studies and PMC functions, and assist the client in developing cost estimates and project-specific execution and technical procedures, based on Aramco guidelines for both the design basis scoping paper (DBSP) stage and, subsequently, the front-end engineering and design (feed) stage.

  Petro Rabigh will draw on the consultant’s advice on design, procurement and the development of new processing technologies, including for light naphtha isomerisation; vacuum residue processing technologies such as de-asphalting and dewaxing; an ebullated-bed configuration integrated with the diesel hydrotreating section; and unconverted oil hydrotreatment.

  According to sources, Petro Rabigh issued the tender for engineering and PMC services for the additional units project on 30 May last year.

  It set an initial bid submission deadline of 29 June last year, which it then extended to 17 July and again to 24 July, with engineering firms submitting their proposals by that date, sources said.

  Following months of evaluation, discussions and negotiations with bidders, Petro Rabigh selected Worley for the contract.

  Red Sea downstream complex

  Petro Rabigh was originally established in 1989 as a basic topping refinery with crude oil processing facilities in Rabigh, along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coastline, about 165 kilometres to the north of Jeddah in Mecca Province.

  Saudi Aramco and Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical Company formed an equal joint venture in 2005 to transform the Petro Rabigh crude oil refining complex into an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex, with the strategic objective of expanding Saudi Arabia’s annual production capacity of refined products and petrochemicals.

  Three years after the creation of the Petro Rabigh joint venture, the partners floated 25% of its shares in an initial public offering on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) in 2008, following which Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical each held 37.5% shares in Petro Rabigh, with the remaining shares listing on the Tadawul.

  In October last year, however, Aramco completed the acquisition of an additional 22.5% stake in Petro Rabigh from Sumitomo Chemical. Following the completion of the transaction, valued at $702m or SR7 a share, Aramco became the majority shareholder in Petro Rabigh, with an equity stake of 60%, while Sumitomo retains an interest of 15%. The remaining 25% shares of Petro Rabigh continue to trade on the Tadawul.

  ALSO READ: Petro Rabigh and Indian firm to study joint project investment

  Following the formation of the Petro Rabigh joint venture in 2005, Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical launched the expansion of the refining facility into an integrated refining and petrochemicals complex in 2006, investing $9.8bn in the project, 60% of which was secured through external financing. Engineering, procurement and construction works on phase one were completed in 2009, with the integrated downstream complex entering operations in November of that year.

  The Petro Rabigh downstream complex consists of a topping refinery that has a 340,000 barrel-a-day (b/d) crude distillation unit, a 47,000 b/d hydrotreater, a 12 million cubic-feet-a-day hydrogen plant, a 75,000 b/d naphtha merox unit and a 60,000 b/d kerosene merox unit, along with supporting utilities, product tankage and a marine terminal.

  Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical initiated Petro Rabigh’s phase two expansion project, valued at $8bn, in 2014. The second expansion phase was commissioned in 2018 and added 15 chemicals plants to the Petro Rabigh complex, raising the facility’s total production capacity to 18.4 million tonnes a year (t/y) of petroleum-based products.  

  The expansion also increased Petro Rabigh’s capacity to process an additional 30 million cubic feet a year of ethane into 2.4 million t/y of ethylene and propylene-based derivatives, and achieved a naphtha output of 3 million t/y.

  Expansion of the main existing chemicals plant and the establishment of a clean fuels complex comprising polyether polyols, naphtha treating and sulphur recovery units were also part of the phase two project.

  In addition to awarding Worley the engineering and PMC services contract this year, Petro Rabigh awarded US-based KBR a 10-year contract in February this year to provide maintenance services covering the company’s polymer plants in Rabigh, on the kingdom’s Red Sea coast.

  Work on the operations and maintenance contract will be executed by KBR’s  business line, which operates under the Houston-headquartered firm’s Technology Solutions portfolio, sources told MEED.

  Prior to this contract, in March 2024, Petro Rabigh awarded KBR a similar five-year asset condition monitoring programme contract. As part of that job, KBR is to provide predictive maintenance services at Petro Rabigh’s main plant.

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  Indrajit Sen