Related Articles

• 
  Larsen & Toubro announces EPC agreement with PDO

  31 July 2026

  Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has announced that it has signed a six-year engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) framework agreement with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).

  Under the agreement, L&T said its subsidiary, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon Onshore, has been selected as one of four EPC contractors to participate in PDO’s upcoming front-end engineering and design (feed) and EPC projects over the agreement period.

  MEED recently reported that Mumbai-headquartered L&T had become the fourth contractor to join the pool of EPC service providers created by PDO to facilitate the tendering and award of future greenfield and brownfield projects within its Block 6 concession in the sultanate.

  Prior to picking L&T, majority state-owned PDO selected the following contractors:

  • Engineering for the Petroleum & Process Industries (Enppi) (Egypt) / Petrojet (Egypt)
  • GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
  • Jereh (China)

  L&T was previously expected to join these contractors in the initial round of framework agreement signings that took place on 19 July, but it later engaged in a final round of discussions with PDO over terms and conditions, sources previously told MEED.

  “L&T remains committed to supporting In-Country Value (ICV) development in Oman through opportunities for local suppliers, subcontractors and service providers, and the continued development of local capabilities,” the Bombay Stock Exchange-listed company said on 31 July.

  Separately, the Egyptian consortium of Enppi and Petrojet confirmed its EPC framework agreement with PDO, adding that its duration is six years.

  Contractors holding EPC framework agreements will be invited by PDO to participate in tenders for up to eight projects under the arrangement, which are estimated to have a combined value of up to $6bn.

  The framework pool of contractors will be structured similarly to the Long-Term Agreement pool of EPC service providers operated by Saudi Aramco for its offshore and onshore projects.

  MEED previously reported that contractors submitted proposals for the EPC framework structure by 27 April.

  Before that, PDO issued the tender for the proposed EPC framework agreement on 22 February, setting a deadline of 9 March for technical clarifications and a cut-off date of 11 March to confirm or decline participation, according to sources.

  MEED reported last year that PDO had issued a prequalification document on 17 April 2025, outlining its requirements, criteria, planned projects and other aspects of the EPC framework agreement. At that time, PDO aimed to appoint two tiers of contractors for two categories of projects, known as Wave 1 and Wave 2.

  PDO’s Wave 1 and Wave 2 projects are as follows:

  Raba hub development – Oil

  The Raba hub project forms part of the Qarn Alam growth development in the northern area of the PDO concession. The strategy covers nearby fields, including Raba Infill and Raba East.

  Production from Raba Infill will be routed to the existing Raba gathering station (RGS), while output from Raba East will be directed to the proposed Raba hub station (RHS).

  Modifications to the RGS are planned to accommodate additional volumes from Raba Infill. An interconnection between the RGS and RHS is also proposed to enhance operational flexibility. The project is expected to unlock an estimated 176 million barrels of unconventional reserves and increase production by about 50,400 barrels a day (b/d) by 2029.

  Wadi Umairi development – Oil and gas

  Scope includes oil and gas processing facilities such as separators, storage tanks, water injection pumps, a gas sweetening unit, off-plot infrastructure and utilities.

  Rabab Harweel Integrated Project (RHIP) tranche 2 – Oil and gas

  The RHIP involves miscible gas injection at several fields and is divided into two tranches. Tranche 2, scheduled to come on stream from 2028, aims to expand oil production capacity and enhance gas injection.

  The scope also includes sustaining gas supply from the reservoir through the installation of a depletion compression facility and expansion of the off-plot gas network.

  Bout full-field development – Oil and gas

  Scope includes remote manifold stations (RMSs), a gathering station, multiport selector valves, water injection manifolds, separators, a hydrocyclone package, water injection pumps and utilities.

  Dulaima carbon dioxide-based enhanced oil recovery – Carbon capture, utilisation and storage 

  Scope includes a processing facility to handle incremental hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide (CO2) volumes, including CO2 recycle injection.

  Makarem development – Sour oil and gas

  Scope includes a gathering station, RMSs, water injection systems, manifolds, pumps, separators and utilities. It also involves a greenfield sour gas facility with gas sweetening and sulphur recovery units.

  Amal South-East Development South – Gas

  Hawqa Hasirah Development South – Gas

  PDO previously intended to tender a project to build a new facility to handle additional oil production at the Al-Ghubar field reservoir in the Ghaba salt basin of Qarn Alam under its framework structure with selected EPC contractors, but eventually tendered it separately.

  PDO is the operator of the Block 6 hydrocarbons concession in Oman, which is the sultanate’s largest and most prolific concession. Situated onshore and covering an area of 75,119 square kilometres, Block 6 contains 202 oil fields and 43 gas fields, with PDO producing a total of approximately 680,000 b/d of oil and condensates from those fields.

  The Omani government holds a 60% stake in PDO. The other shareholders are UK-based Shell (34%), France’s TotalEnergies (4%) and Thai state-owned PTTEP (2%).

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17873448/main2634.jpg

  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Client seeks fresh PMC bids for Dorra gas project

  31 July 2026

  

   

  Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) has sought fresh proposals from engineering firms for a revised tender for project management consultancy (PMC) services for the multibillion-dollar Dorra gas field facilities development project.

  MEED has been reporting since last March on KJO’s efforts to advance a project to produce gas from the Dorra offshore field, located in Gulf waters in the Neutral Zone shared by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

  KJO, which is jointly owned by Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Company and KPC subsidiary Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, has divided the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope of work for the Dorra field gas production project into four EPC packages – three offshore and one onshore.

  The tender’s broad scope involves providing PMC services for the EPC works for the Dorra gas facilities development project.

  KJO issued the tender for PMC services on 29 September last year, and engineering firms submitted bids on 19 January this year, MEED previously reported.

  In the months following bid submission, KJO held discussions with bidders on contract terms and pricing, sources said. The client ultimately decided to retender the PMC services contract with a revised scope of work.

  “The regional conflict in the first and second quarters, and Iran’s hostilities against Gulf states, made the future of the [Dorra gas] project uncertain,” one source said.

  “[For KJO], developing a gas field that lies in disputed waters with Iran seemed risky business at the time, and that explains the large part of the delay [in the PMC tendering process],” the source added.

  KJO has now set a bid submission deadline of 17 August for the revised PMC tender for the Dorra gas facilities development project, sources said.

  The following firms, among others, are understood to have been invited by KJO to bid for the revised PMC tender:

  • Fluor (US)
  • KBR (US)
  • Technip Energies (France)
  • Wood (UK)
  • Worley (Australia)

  In addition to these bidders, firms that submitted proposals in the first tender round on 19 January included Saudi Arabia/UAE-based Kent and Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas.

  Dorra offshore and onshore facilities

  KJO, meanwhile, is moving forward with the EPC tendering exercise for the main Dorra gas field facilities project. 

  Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (L&TEH) has won package 1 of the Dorra facilities project, which covers the EPC of seven offshore jackets and the laying of intra-field pipelines. The contract is estimated to be worth between $140m and $150m, MEED reported last October.

  A consortium of Italian contractor Saipem and L&TEH is understood to have submitted the lowest bid for offshore packages 2A and 2B, MEED reported in March. The only other consortium said to have submitted bids for packages 2A and 2B comprises Abu Dhabi-based NMDC Energy and South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries.

  The EPC scope of work for package 2A includes Dorra gas field wellhead topsides, flowlines and umbilicals. Package 2B involves the central gathering platform complex, export pipelines and cables.

  Tecnicas Reunidas is understood to have emerged as the lowest bidder for onshore package 3, sources previously told MEED. Package 3 covers the EPC of onshore gas processing facilities.

  Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been pressing ahead with their plan to jointly produce 1 billion cubic feet a day of gas from the Dorra gas field.

  The two countries have been producing oil from the Neutral Zone – primarily from the onshore Wafra field and the offshore Khafji field – since at least the 1950s. With a growing need to increase natural gas production, they have been working to exploit the Dorra offshore field, understood to be the only gas field in the Neutral Zone.

  Discovered in 1965, the Dorra gas field is estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic metres of gas and 310 million barrels of oil.

  The Dorra facilities scheme is one of three multibillion-dollar projects launched by subsidiaries of Aramco and KPC to produce and process gas from the Dorra field that have advanced in the past few months.

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17871141/main0207.jpg

  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Saudi Arabia to localise desalination equipment production

  31 July 2026

  Saudi Water Authority (SWA) has announced plans to establish a factory in Saudi Arabia to manufacture energy recovery devices used to reduce power consumption at reverse-osmosis desalination plants.

  US-based Energy Recovery will operate the facility with a capacity to produce 2,000 devices a year. Production is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027.

  SWA said the facility will be the first factory outside the US to manufacture the specialised equipment.

  Domestic demand in Saudi Arabia is estimated at 1,200 devices a year. About 40% of the factory’s production is expected to be supplied to markets in the GCC, Africa and Asia.

  Energy recovery devices improve the efficiency of desalination plants by recovering energy from the reverse-osmosis process, reducing power consumption and operating costs.

  SWA said local manufacturing will reduce dependence on imports, shorten supply times and improve the reliability of supply chains serving desalination plants.

  The authority estimates the market opportunity for the industry at more than SR547m ($146m). This includes about SR247m ($69.5m) in Saudi Arabia and SR300m ($80m) across the Middle East and North Africa.

  The project is expected to contribute about SR137m ($36.5m) to Saudi Arabia’s GDP by 2033. SWA expects localisation within the product’s value chain to exceed 80%.

  The project is also intended to support knowledge transfer and develop local capabilities in the manufacture of desalination technologies.

  SWA led efforts to establish the project in cooperation with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment, Ministry of Industry & Mineral Resources and Local Content & Government Procurement Authority.

  ---

  READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

  Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

  Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

  > AGENDA: Expo 2030 Riyadh construction gathers pace > WORLD CUP: What the 2026 World Cup means for Saudi Arabia 2034 > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge > INDUSTRY REPORT: GCC banks prove resilient amid turmoil > LEADERSHIP: Private capital and the GCC infrastructure inflection > PORTS: Geopolitical risk shapes $513bn of global ports projects > INTERVIEW: Developers look beyond standalone solar

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17853316/main.jpg

  Mark Dowdall
• 
  EtihadWE seeks bids for retendered substations

  31 July 2026

  Etihad Water & Electricity (Etihad WE) has retendered a contract for the construction of two 33/11kV substations and associated underground cabling works in the Northern Emirates.

  The bid submission deadline is 24 August.

  Estimated to cost $100m, the project had originally been tendered earlier this year, with bids due on 20 May.

  The scope covers a new 33/11kV substation at Umm Dera (UMDR) in Umm Al-Quwain and another at Rams-3 (RMS3) in Ras Al-Khaimah. The contract also includes associated 33kV underground cabling works at both locations.

  The works are divided into four packages:

  • A1: New Umm Derra 33/11kV Substation (UMDR)
  • A2: New Rams-3 33/11kV Substation (RMS3)
  • A3: Umm Derra 33kV Underground Cabling Works
  • A4 : Rams-3 33kV Underground Cabling Works

  Etihad WE has invited prequalified engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors to bid for the project on a lump-sum turnkey basis.

  According to the utility, contractors prequalified for both substation and cabling works can bid for the full scope. Contractors qualified only for substation works can bid for the complete substation scope, while those qualified only for cabling works can bid for the complete cabling scope.

  The project includes design, engineering, supply, construction, installation, testing and commissioning.

  The substation scope includes switchgear, transformers, protection and control systems and Scada systems. The project also covers civil works and supporting infrastructure.

  Etihad WE is responsible for electricity and water services in Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Ras Al-Khaimah, Fujairah and parts of Sharjah. The utility has been investing in new substations and transmission infrastructure as electricity demand continues to increase across the Northern Emirates.

  Earlier in July, the utility tendered a contract to build three new substations in Ajman.

  Estimated to cost $150m, the project involves the construction of three new 132/11kV substations in the Bahya, Rumaila and Liwara districts. It also includes associated 132kV underground cabling works to connect the substations to the existing transmission network.

  The bid submission deadline is 10 August.

  ---

  READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

  Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

  Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

  > AGENDA: Expo 2030 Riyadh construction gathers pace > WORLD CUP: What the 2026 World Cup means for Saudi Arabia 2034 > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge > INDUSTRY REPORT: GCC banks prove resilient amid turmoil > LEADERSHIP: Private capital and the GCC infrastructure inflection > PORTS: Geopolitical risk shapes $513bn of global ports projects > INTERVIEW: Developers look beyond standalone solar

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17857843/main.jpg

  Mark Dowdall
• 
  Taqa raises $750m to finance water projects

  30 July 2026

  Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has issued a $750m five-year blue bond to finance sustainable water and wastewater management projects.

  The company said the transaction is the largest blue bond issuance in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. It is also the largest blue bond issued by an integrated power and water utility globally.

  Issuing the bond allows Taqa to raise money from investors specifically to support water-related environmental projects. These can include desalination, wastewater treatment, water recycling and reuse, and infrastructure that improves water efficiency.

  It is the first blue bond issued under Taqa’s Green and Blue Finance Framework, and follows another blue financing transaction in the UAE earlier this year.

  On 8 January, Dubai-based Emirates NBD bank announced the completion of a $1bn dual-tranche sustainable bond issuance, comprising a $300m blue tranche with a three-year tenor and a $700m green tranche with a five-year tenor.

  Emirates NBD said at the time that the $300m tranche was the largest blue bond issued in the UAE and GCC. The proceeds are intended to support marine conservation and sustainable water projects, while proceeds from the green tranche will finance green initiatives.

  Taqa launched its original Green Finance Framework in 2023 and updated it in 2026 to include blue financing instruments. The latest issuance takes its total green and blue labelled bond issuances to $2.6bn since 2023.

  The Taqa financing also comes as the company expands and modernises its water infrastructure. Taqa is targeting reverse-osmosis technology for 66% of its desalination capacity by 2030, up from about 40% in 2025.

  In June, Taqa awarded a contract for the construction of a 1-million-cubic-metre emergency lagoon in Abu Dhabi. The project will be developed in two phases.

  Phase one has a capacity of 500,000 cubic metres and is planned to be completed within 18 months of the contract award.

  ---

  READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

  Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

  Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

  > AGENDA: Expo 2030 Riyadh construction gathers pace > WORLD CUP: What the 2026 World Cup means for Saudi Arabia 2034 > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge > INDUSTRY REPORT: GCC banks prove resilient amid turmoil > LEADERSHIP: Private capital and the GCC infrastructure inflection > PORTS: Geopolitical risk shapes $513bn of global ports projects > INTERVIEW: Developers look beyond standalone solar

  To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17845953/main.jpg

  Mark Dowdall