Qatar adapts to post-Fifa market
24 January 2024
Commentary
John Bambridge
Analysis editor
For the past decade, Qatar has had clearly mapped out capital spending plans centred around Doha’s build-up to the 2022 Fifa World Cup and the associated redevelopment of the capital through a massive real estate and infrastructure upgrade programme.
As an economic strategy it was a simple but effective driver of both short-term growth and foreign direct investment, providing sustained support to the construction and services sectors. The infrastructure that was laid down in this period will also underpin organic growth for decades to come.
Yet just as the scale of the projects boom was dramatic, so too has been the recent drop-off in activity.
In 2014, there was about $27bn of construction and transport project awards, led by Doha rail schemes and an ambitious countrywide road-building programme. In 2023, there was only $1bn of awards in the same sectors.
The upshot is that demand for general contracting services is likewise in decline, driving many international and local contractors to look to other markets, especially Saudi Arabia, for work.
Amid the lack of a next big thing to aim for, Doha is reinvesting in the mainstay of the Qatari economy: its hydrocarbons sector, awarding projects worth more than $47bn between 2021 and 2023 – an extraordinary surge in work compared to the $4.1bn-worth of awards in the three years before that. The work is predominantly focused on processing liquefied natural gas for export, poising the country to continue to expand its global market share.
There has also been an upswing in power and water sector activity, with close to $8bn of awards across those two sectors in the past two years.
This fillip of additional hydrocarbons and utilities work will keep the projects market as a whole broadly healthy, and many general contractors will benefit from the nuts-and-bolts construction work that accompanies these schemes. A subset of contractors may also be able to reskill and upskill their workforce for the more specialist aspects of the work.
Outside of this gas sector investment, there is little clarity about the future of the country’s projects market. The Qatar National Vision 2030 is relatively opaque, speaking to development in general terms, but not identifying areas of strategic interest or specific investment ambitions.
One prospect is renewed transport investment, as Doha again eyes rail links with the rest of the GCC and fine tunes its road networks.
There are construction and transport projects worth about $14bn expected to be awarded in 2024 – and the letting of even a portion of this would help soften the sharp decline in the general contracting market. Yet the broader trend remains of the Qatari projects market being one of rapidly shifting priorities.
MEED's February 2024 special report on Qatar includes:
> GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY: Qatar’s return to economic normality
> BANKING: Qatar’s banks adjust to new circumstances
> OIL & GAS: Qatar enters period of oil and gas consolidation
> POWER & WATER: Qatar power and water projects to take off
> CONSTRUCTION: Qatar construction enters reboot mode
> SPORTS: Qatar’s sporting vision transcends World Cup
Exclusive from Meed
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Eni completes $1bn Libya gas project20 October 2026
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Diriyah Company tenders East Wadi bridge20 October 2026
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Kuwait selects firms for power works at housing projects20 October 2026
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Taqa moves forward with Mirfa-Liwa scheme20 October 2026
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Eni completes $1bn Libya gas project20 October 2026
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Libya’s Mellitah Oil & Gas Company, a joint venture of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Italian oil and gas company Eni, has achieved mechanical completion on its Bouri gas utilisation project (GUP).
In a statement, Eni said that start-up procedures are currently under way, enabling the recovery of associated gas produced from the Bouri field, which is located in Libya’s western offshore area.
The main contract for the project, worth $1bn, was awarded to Italy’s Saipem in August 2023.
The project involved the construction and installation of the new Bouri gas recovery module and related tie-in infrastructure that enables the recovery and treatment of gas that was previously flared.
In its statement, Eni said that the project “represents one of the most significant emissions reduction initiatives in Libya’s energy sector”.
It also said that it would contribute to improving the environmental performance of the country’s production system by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
The recovered gas will be supplied to the domestic market, adding about 700 million cubic metres a year and helping meet demand from the power generation sector.
The project will also support additional gas volumes available for export to Europe through the GreenStream pipeline.
Eni said: “The start-up of the Bouri GUP confirms the joint commitment of Eni and NOC to the development of Libya’s energy sector through initiatives that combine production growth, operational efficiency and environmental stewardship.
“The project is part of a broader strategy aimed at enhancing the value of the country’s gas resources while reducing the emissions intensity of upstream activities.”
Other key projects currently under way in Libya include the A&E Structures Project, which is focused on bringing new offshore gas resources onstream for both the domestic market and exports, as well as initiatives aimed at upgrading and optimising gas production and transportation infrastructures.
Eni has been present in Libya since 1959, and the company’s equity production in the country in 2025 amounted to approximately 162,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
The Bouri offshore field is part of Libya’s Block NC-41, located 120 kilometres north of the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea.
It was first discovered in 1976 at a depth of 8,700 feet. It is estimated to contain 4.5 billion barrels in proven recoverable crude oil reserves and 3.5 trillion cubic feet of associated natural gas, with an annual production potential of 6 billion cubic metres.
The first development phase, costing nearly $2bn, was completed in 1990.
This was immediately followed by a second development phase, which entailed drilling 55 new wells and constructing three additional platforms. Production began from the oil platforms DP4 and DP3 in August 1998.
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Diriyah Company tenders East Wadi bridge20 October 2026

Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Company has invited contractors to bid on the construction of the DG II East Wadi Bridge, a key crossing within Riyadh’s Diriyah master development.
The bridge will provide an arterial road connection linking the Diriyah Gate Phase 2 (DG II) Infrastructure Package 1 and Package 2 zones.
The project scope involves the construction of a 100-metre clear-span, 44-metre-wide, single-span post-tensioned concrete bridge structure with integrated abutments and four architectural towers.
The contract also encompasses approach slabs, access roads, pavements, associated earthworks, architectural finishes and cladding, mechanical, electrical and plumbing installations, utility interfaces, bridge parapets, vehicle restraint systems, waterproofing, testing and commissioning, and associated temporary works.
The client will supply the detailed engineering design, and the selected contractor will develop the construction methodology.
Diriyah Company issued the prequalification tender on 14 September, with submissions due by 10 December.
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Kuwait selects firms for power works at housing projects20 October 2026

Kuwait’s Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) has appointed contractors for works covering the supply and installation of 132kV underground cables at South Sabah Al-Ahmad Residential City.
The contracts relate to engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages for works for 28 main 132/11kV substations across four phases.
According to sources, Egypt’s Elsewedy Cables has won contracts for phases 1 and 3, while China’s TBEA Shandong Luneng Taishan Cable Company has won contracts for phases 2 and 4 of the development.
In April, MEED reported that PAHW had received at least five bids for each of the first two packages, with Elsewedy and TBEA offering $44m and $40.5m, respectively.
The first contract (phase 1) covers seven substations in zones N9, N7 and N5. The second contract (phase 2) covers seven substations in zones N10 and N5.
PAHW issued two further 132kV underground cable tenders for the South Sabah Al-Ahmad residential development at the end of May, as reported by MEED.
This included a contract (phase 3) covering the supply, extension and maintenance of 132kV underground cables linked to seven substations serving the N5, N6, N8 and N10 districts. Egytech Cables, a subsidiary of Elsewedy, submitted an offer of $39.95m, the lowest of four bids.
The other contract (phase 4) covers the supply, extension and maintenance of 132kV underground cables feeding eight main transformer substations serving the N1, N6 and N11 districts.
MEED reported in July that TBEA had submitted an offer of $44.06m for the contract.
South Saad Al-Abdullah
Separately, PAHW has appointed contractors for power transmission works at the South Saad Al-Abdullah residential development.
The local firm Sayed Hamid Behbehani & Sons has won a contract to supply, install and maintain 10 main 132/11kV transformer substations for the development’s third phase.
Another local firm, Al-Ahleia Switchgear, has won a contract to supply, install and maintain 10 main 132/11kV transformer substations for the project’s fourth phase.
As reported in August, the contractors submitted bids of $104.2m and $103.3m, respectively.
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Taqa moves forward with Mirfa-Liwa scheme20 October 2026

Taqa Transmission and Taqa Distribution are advancing a major water transmission and distribution scheme serving Mirfa, Madinat Zayed and Liwa in Abu Dhabi, sources told MEED.
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The initial submission deadline was 11 November, before it was extended.
The project was previously tendered in December 2024, with contractors submitting bids for transmission and distribution packages in January 2025. As of August, the bids were still under evaluation. It is unclear whether the latest tender represents a revised procurement process for the same scheme.
The project comprises a water transmission system from Mirfa, alongside distribution networks serving farms and settlements in the western region.
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The earlier procurement was structured as an engineering, procurement and construction scheme, divided between transmission and distribution works.
As MEED understands, the latest tender is being pursued under a design, build and operate model, which extends the contractor’s responsibilities to operating the infrastructure after construction.
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Contractors prepare prices for Adnoc Onshore field facilities project20 October 2026

Contractors are preparing commercial bids for Adnoc Onshore’s project to build on-plot and off-plot facilities at the Rumaitha and Shanayel fields in Abu Dhabi’s North East Bab oil field cluster.
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Adnoc Onshore issued the main tender for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on 19 June. Contractors submitted technical bids by 5 August, sources told MEED.
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