New Murabba seeks firms for three new Mukaab packages
25 April 2025

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Saudi Arabia’s New Murabba Development Company (NMDC) has asked firms to prequalify by 30 April for three new contracts covering the construction works on the Mukaab at the New Murabba downtown development in Riyadh.
MEED understands that the three packages comprise the Central Core Tower, Outriggers and Vertical Ribs, and could cost up to SR10bn ($2.6bn).
NMDC is also evaluating the bids it received in November last year for a contract to undertake the raft concrete works beneath the wadi podiums and Mukaab.
The Mukaab is a Najdi-inspired landmark that will be one of the largest buildings in the world. It will be 400 metres high, 400 metres wide and 400 metres long. Internally, it will have a tower on top of a spiral base and a structure featuring 2 million square metres (sq m) of floor space designated for hospitality. It will feature commercial spaces, cultural and tourist attractions, and residential and hotel units, as well as recreational facilities.
In October last year, MEED reported that New Murabba had achieved significant construction progress on the Mukaab project.
According to an official statement released on 15 October: “Excavation works at the Mukaab and surrounding podium sites had reached 86% completion, with over 10 million cubic metres of earth moved.”
Beijing-headquartered China Harbour Engineering Company is carrying out the excavation works.
The foundation works for the Mukaab are being carried out by UAE-headquartered HSSG Foundation Contracting.
Downtown destination
The New Murabba destination will have a total floor area of more than 25 million sq m and feature more than 104,000 residential units, 9,000 hotel rooms and over 980,000 sq m of retail space.
The scheme will include 1.4 million sq m of office space, 620,000 sq m of leisure facilities and 1.8 million sq m of space dedicated to community facilities.
The project will be developed around the concept of sustainability and will include green spaces and walking and cycling paths to promote healthy, active lifestyles and community activities.
The living, working and entertainment facilities will be created within a 15-minute walking radius. The area will use an internal transport system and be about a 20-minute drive from the airport.
The downtown area will feature a museum, a technology and design university, an immersive, multipurpose theatre, and more than 80 entertainment and cultural venues.
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Dubai Municipality has extended the deadline for contractors to submit bids for a contract covering the expansion of the Jebel Ali sewage treatment plant (STP) phases one and two.
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Future expansion
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UAE’s departure from Opec marks a tectonic shift29 April 2026
Commentary
Indrajit Sen
Oil & gas editorRegister for MEED’s 14-day trial access
The UAE’s decision to leave Opec and the Opec+ grouping marks a significant turning point in global oil markets and highlights shifting geopolitical dynamics and evolving supply expectations.
The UAE announced it will leave the producer alliance effective 1 May, ending nearly six decades of membership. The move reflects a broader strategic shift, as the country seeks greater flexibility over its production policy amid rising capacity and changing market conditions.
For oil markets, this is about more than one country wanting to pump more oil. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has spent billions of dollars over the years to raise crude production capacity to 5 million barrels a day.
Opec+ quotas had increasingly looked as though they were stifling Abu Dhabi’s growing desire to maximise revenues by tapping into its expanded spare capacity. Leaving the Opec+ coalition gives Abu Dhabi more room to monetise those investments.
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The immediate dip in the price of global benchmark Brent crude following the announcement of the UAE’s decision on 28 April showed the market’s first instinct: more UAE barrels could mean more supply and lower prices. However, the price rebound on 29 April, with Brent trading around $111 a barrel, also tells the other half of the story: extra capacity does not instantly become risk-free supply when regional bottlenecks and security threats remain front and centre.
For Opec+, this is a blow to unity and to Saudi Arabia’s ability to marshal producer discipline. It does not mean that a price war will start tomorrow, but it raises the risk of other member states choosing to abandon the alliance’s cooperation mechanism and pursue a higher market share. In trading terms, this adds a new volatility premium: more potential supply, less cartel discipline and a Gulf energy landscape that looks significantly less predictable.
The announcement comes at a time of heightened uncertainty in global energy markets, with geopolitical tensions, supply chain constraints and demand recovery trends all contributing to price volatility. The UAE’s exit is expected to reshape market expectations around supply flexibility and producer coordination.
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