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Brent hits $112 a barrel following Saudi oil field attack Administrator22 October 2026
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Oil prices climbed more than 3% on 22 October after a drone targeting Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field development killed two people and injured two others a day earlier, adding to concerns over energy supplies as attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure intensified.
Global benchmark Brent crude hit $112.30 in early trading on 22 October, but later pared gains and was trading at $111.52 a barrel as of 11am GST.
Three residents and a Saudi citizen were killed in two separate incidents in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province on 21 October, authorities said, as attacks on the kingdom accelerated following an escalation of hostilities with the Iran-backed Houthi group in neighbouring Yemen.
Overnight, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen announced that it had intercepted and destroyed four drones in the Eastern Province.
Saudi air defences intercepted a drone attempting to target a processing facility at Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field development on the morning of 21 October, the Saudi Ministry of Energy said.
The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) carried a statement quoting an energy ministry official as saying the attempted attack resulted in the deaths of two residents – a Filipino and a Nepali – and injuries to two others – an Indian and a Pakistani – after debris fell due to the interception.
Following the interception, a fire broke out in a vehicle belonging to a contractor at the Shaybah oil field, outside the facility’s perimeter, with no impact on operations.
Dammam airport attack
Separately, a Houthi attack on King Fahd International airport in Dammam on the evening of 21 October killed an Indian resident and a Saudi citizen.
Eight people were also injured in the attack, including a Saudi national, a Nepali, and two nationals each from India, Yemen and Bangladesh. Injuries ranged from minor to critical, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) said the next day.
“The attack also caused property damage, the extent of which is currently being assessed. Further updates will be provided,” Gaca said, adding that operations had since resumed at Dammam airport.
Saudi Arabia has come under sustained attack from the Iran-aligned Houthi rebel group in October, including strikes on Riyadh’s international airport in what authorities described as the kingdom’s deadliest incidents in years, as the war with the group escalates.
The Houthi militias also struck an administrative building at Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran, in the Eastern Province, on 13 October, resulting in a limited fire.
The Houthi rebels opened a new front in the regional war between Iran and the US in mid-July, when they breached a four-year truce with Saudi Arabia in Yemen’s civil war, which began in 2014, and started attacking Saudi vessels and Aramco energy assets along the Red Sea, including repeated strikes on the Jizan refinery.
The 1,200-kilometre East-West pipeline operated by Aramco was also hit by Houthi missiles in September, and once directly by Iran in April.
The East-West pipeline transports crude from Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province oil fields to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu on the kingdom’s west coast. It has a pumping capacity of 7 million barrels a day.
Saudi Arabia relies heavily on the East-West pipeline to bypass the volatile Strait of Hormuz maritime chokepoint and ship crude from its Red Sea coast. Riyadh has increasingly used the line to route exports away from Hormuz since the US-Iran conflict began on 28 February – a tactical advantage most of its Gulf neighbours lack.
Aramco resumed crude exports via the pipeline at the start of October.
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Nebius agrees Neom AI data centre capacity deal Administrator22 October 2026
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Saudi artificial intelligence (AI) company Humain and data centre developer DataVolt have signed a preliminary framework agreement with Netherlands-based AI cloud company Nebius for up to 50MW of data centre capacity at Oxagon, Neom’s industrial city on the kingdom's Red Sea coast.
Under the proposed agreement, Nebius will become an anchor customer at the planned AI data centre campus.
The contemplated capacity represents half of the initial 100MW currently under construction, which forms part of a planned 360MW first phase.
The capacity is expected to be commissioned in stages from the fourth quarter of 2027.
Humain, which is owned by Saudi sovereign wealth vehicle the Public Investment Fund, and DataVolt began construction on the initial 100MW facility at Oxagon in September. The wider campus is planned to reach 1.5GW of capacity.
The agreement was signed during Nvidia’s GTC event in Berlin, held on 20-22 October. The US graphics processing unit (GPU) designer hosts the GPU Technology Conference (GTC) to showcase advances in AI and accelerated computing.
Nebius is expected to deploy Nvidia-powered computing infrastructure at the Oxagon campus to support its AI cloud business and international customer base.
The project combines Humain’s AI capabilities with DataVolt’s experience in developing, financing and operating digital infrastructure. It is intended to support large-scale AI and cloud workloads for Saudi and international customers.
Oxagon is seeking to position itself as a location for energy-intensive digital infrastructure, supported by pre-zoned industrial land, power resources and subsea cable connectivity to Europe and Africa. The development is also expected to incorporate renewable energy and advanced cooling systems.
The Oxagon campus builds on an agreement signed in February 2025 by Neom and DataVolt to develop data centre infrastructure at the site. That deal involved an investment of about $5bn and envisaged a 1.5GW development.
In September 2025, DataVolt signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s LG Electronics covering cooling systems for the Oxagon data centre project.
DataVolt was founded in 2023 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi infrastructure developer Vision Invest. Humain was launched in May 2025 to develop capabilities across the AI value chain, including data centres, high-performance computing infrastructure, cloud platforms and AI models.
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Riyadh awards $301m Sheikh Jaber Road contract Administrator22 October 2026
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The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) has awarded an estimated SR1.13bn ($301m) contract to local firm Alomaier Trading & Contracting Company to upgrade a section of Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Road in the capital.
The project covers the construction of an urban road about 3 kilometres (km) long, with a right-of-way width of about 120 metres.
The scope of work includes the delivery of three interchanges featuring post-tensioned, voided-slab concrete bridges; a cut-and-cover tunnel; and three box culverts designated IC02, IC03 and IC04.
The contract also encompasses pumping and lifting stations, stormwater drainage and irrigation networks, earthworks, asphalt paving, roadway lighting, power distribution systems, mechanically stabilised earth retaining walls and landscaping works.
The award forms part of RCRC’s wider programme to upgrade Riyadh’s arterial road network, decongest critical bottlenecks and expand transportation capacity in the city ahead of Expo 2030 and the 2034 Fifa World Cup.
The contract award follows RCRC’s appointment in May of a joint venture of Riyadh-based Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting Company and Turkiye’s IC Ictas for an estimated SR5bn ($1.3bn) contract to construct another section of Sheikh Jaber Al-Sabah Road.
That project covers 12km from Khurais Road to Al-Thumama Road and is a component of Riyadh’s Second Eastern Ring Road scheme.
Alomaier Trading & Contracting Company has secured several contracts in recent months.
In August, Saudi Arabian Railways awarded the contractor an estimated SR4bn-plus ($1.1bn) contract to add a second track to the first section of the existing phosphate railway in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.
The railway package covers about 100km between AZ1/Nariyah Yard and Ras Al-Khair. Works include track doubling, alignment modifications, utility bridges, culvert widening, hydrological structures, conversion of the AZ1 siding into a mainline track, and enabling works for signalling and telecommunications systems.
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Oxagon takes centre stage at Neom> MARKET FOCUS: Saudi projects hold steady> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the groundTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20833960/main.jpg -
Dewa International signs energy and infrastructure MoUs Administrator22 October 2026
Dubai Electricity & Water Authority’s (Dewa) new development arm, Dewa International, has signed four memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with international partners to explore investment and project development opportunities in the energy, water and infrastructure sectors.
The agreements, signed during Dubai’s Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (Wetex 2026), follow the launch of the wholly owned subsidiary in June, as reported by MEED.
At the time, the utility said the arm would be used to export Dubai’s energy and water infrastructure model, with a focus on developing conventional and clean energy projects for global markets.
At Wetex, Dewa International signed an MoU with France’s EDF Power Solutions to explore potential joint participation in solar, wind, battery energy storage and pumped-storage hydropower projects.
A separate agreement with China Energy International Group explores the company’s potential role as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner for major energy, water and infrastructure projects. The MoU also covers cooperation in project development and EPC services.
A further agreement with UK-based Capital Dynamics focuses on potential joint investments in operational clean energy assets in Europe. The parties will also explore establishing an investment vehicle for future clean energy infrastructure investments.
Dewa International also signed a fourth agreement with Mumbai-Headquartered Tata Consultancy Services, exploring the company’s potential role as a technical consultancy partner. The scope covers technology strategy, information technology and operational technology integration, and asset performance management solutions.
Dewa currently has almost $7bn-worth of power and water projects under execution across the UAE, according to regional projects tracker MEED Projects.
Its flagship Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park is the largest single-site solar park in the world. The utility is currently advancing the project’s seventh phase, with Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) recently submitting the lowest bid for the project, as exclusively reported by MEED.
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EGA’s Al-Taweelah restoration reaches 50% completion Administrator22 October 2026
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The UAE’s Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has announced that half of the reduction cells at its Al-Taweelah smelter in Abu Dhabi, which sustained damage from Iranian attacks in late March, have been restarted.
On 28 March, drone and missile attacks by Iran on Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi (Kezad), where the smelter is located, led to an emergency shutdown of the facility and injured two EGA employees, who were later discharged from hospital.
To restore hot metal production, EGA said it must progressively repair and restart each reduction cell. So far, 631 of the 1,262 reduction cells at Al-Taweelah have been restarted.
EGA – which is jointly owned by the governments of Abu Dhabi and Dubai – is working on all three potlines at Al-Taweelah in parallel, to accelerate the rate of reduction cell start-ups. Potline 1 was energised on 26 May, followed by Potline 3 on 13 July and Potline 2 on 3 August.
After being restarted, a reduction cell typically takes a week to stabilise and reach full production. Some hot metal is used to restart subsequent reduction cells, with the balance being delivered to EGA’s Al-Taweelah casthouse, to be cast into finished premium aluminium products.
Following the emergency shutdown, molten aluminium froze in every reduction cell at Al-Taweelah, leaving solid metal pads weighing up to 45 tonnes, which needed to be removed. Almost 80% of the reduction cells can then be restarted. The remaining reduction cells require repairs, potlining demolition and relining, depending on how long the reduction cells had been operating before the incident.
Periodically cutting out, repairing and relining reduction cells at the end of their operating life is routine in aluminium smelting. Compared to the normal rolling maintenance programme, EGA has more than tripled its capacity in order to safely repair and restart reduction cells at Al-Taweelah, by optimising workflows, adding equipment, strengthening employee capability and deploying industrial process innovations.
ALSO READ: EGA to receive first Guinea bauxite post-settlement
About 1,000 employees are working on the restoration of hot metal production at the Al-Taweelah smelter, EGA said in a statement on 26 August.
During the restoration, EGA has accelerated the deployment of a technology pilot at Al-Taweelah that would otherwise have required operating reduction cells to be shut down. The pilot E40 upgrades to 13 DX technology reduction cells will be used to prove the performance of the technology before industrialisation across all 808 DX technology cells at Al-Taweelah.
If applied to all DX reduction cells, EGA’s E40 technology has the potential to increase hot metal production by 67,000 tonnes a year (t/y).
EGA’s Al-Taweelah alumina refinery is located next to the Al-Taweelah smelter.
Alumina is the feedstock for aluminium smelters. It is transferred to storage and then into the smelter by a system of conveyor belts.
The Al-Taweelah alumina refinery continues to produce alumina at approximately 50% capacity, EGA said. While the alumina refinery is technically ready to ramp-up further, timing will be based on supply chain dynamics and the optimisation of EGA’s alumina sourcing strategy.
The company announced on 10 July that it had restarted alumina production at its main refinery in Al-Taweelah, adding at the time that it expected to have the technical capability to ramp up to full alumina production by the end of this year.
The Al-Taweelah alumina refinery began production in 2019 and has a nameplate capacity of 2 million t/y.
EGA’s Al-Taweelah smelter consists of 1,262 reduction cells and produced 1.6 million tonnes of cast metal in 2025.
The Al-Taweelah alumina refinery produced 2.4 million t/y of alumina in 2025, and met 46% of EGA’s alumina needs.
EGA also said in July that its site in the Jebel Ali area of Dubai is continuing aluminium production at full capacity. Average daily inbound deliveries of all major raw materials exceed EGA’s requirements to maintain metal production at Jebel Ali and meet the demands of restoration at Al-Taweelah, with raw material stocks in the UAE increasing.
Separately, the ramp-up of production at EGA’s new Al-Taweelah recycling plant remains on track, with full production expected by late in the fourth quarter of this year.
EGA’s recycling plants in the US and Germany, meanwhile, have continued production throughout 2026.
ALSO READ: EGA to receive first Guinea bauxite post-settlement
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QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies to develop Lebanon solar plant Administrator22 October 2026
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State-owned QatarEnergy and France’s TotalEnergies have agreed to jointly develop a solar power plant in Lebanon.
The agreement was announced on 16 October during the Qatari prime minister’s official visit to Beirut, where he held a joint press conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
According to a statement published by the Lebanese Prime Minister's Office, the plant will be an initial project under a broader framework for energy cooperation between Qatar and Lebanon. Its capacity, location, investment value and implementation schedule have yet to be disclosed.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al-Thani said: “The aim is to develop a major investment project that benefits the Lebanese economy, as well as the Qatari companies and entities participating in it.”
Separately, Salam said the Lebanese and Qatari governments were “close to reaching an agreement” to rehabilitate, develop and modernise Lebanon’s electricity-generation infrastructure.
The proposed project would cover the country’s various electricity-generation sources and associated infrastructure, aiming to improve the reliability of electricity supplies and reduce costs.
The project would use a build, operate and transfer model, under which Qatari entities would finance, implement and operate the facilities without upfront investment costs for the Lebanese treasury, Salam said.
Salam also said the proposal was being prepared with support from the International Finance Corporation, and that he hoped to present it to the Lebanese government soon.
The wider initiative is intended to address Lebanon’s longstanding electricity-generation shortfall and overcome financing constraints that have delayed infrastructure projects in the sector.
As MEED previously reported, the Lebanese government continues to advance broader reforms to the country’s electricity sector.
In August, Lebanon’s Electricity Regulatory Authority invited private sector companies to submit expressions of interest (EoIs) for several upcoming power-generation projects.
The EoIs cover up to five grid-connected solar photovoltaic projects with a combined installed capacity of 350 megawatts-peak. The projects are also expected to include battery energy storage systems with a combined capacity of 1,000 megawatt-hours.
The regulator is also seeking proposals for distributed dual-fired thermal power plants with net capacities of 20MW-100MW.
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Oxagon takes centre stage at Neom> MARKET FOCUS: Saudi projects hold steady> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the groundTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20827458/main.jpg -
PIF developer moves Mecca residential tower deadline Administrator22 October 2026
Rua Al-Haram Al-Makki has extended the bid submission deadline for the main construction package for the Ajyad residential tower, a 365-metre high-rise development in Mecca’s central area, close to the Grand Mosque.
The new bid submission deadline is the end of November.
Rua Al-Haram Al-Makki tendered the contract in July, with an initial bid submission deadline of 30 September, as MEED reported.
The project team includes US-based Marriott International as residential operator, Hanmi Global Saudi as project management consultant, Saudi Diyar Consultants as construction supervision consultant, and PLP Architecture as lead design consultant and construction-stage design guardian.
The tower will rise 84 floors with four basement levels. It will comprise a total of 212 units, including 82 three-bedroom apartments, 85 four-bedroom units, 29 penthouses and 16 duplex villas.
The scheme has a gross floor area of 209,231 square metres (sq m) and a built-up area of 242,976 sq m.
The site is currently being cleared by a demolition contractor, with the existing mat foundation and retaining walls to be handed over to the main contractor, who will build the new superstructure on the retained raft.
Rua Al-Haram Al-Makki Company was established in October 2017 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi sovereign wealth vehicle the Public Investment Fund.
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Oxagon takes centre stage at Neom> MARKET FOCUS: Saudi projects hold steady> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the groundTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20826527/main.jpg -
Five contractors attend meeting for $3.3bn gas project in Kuwait Administrator22 October 2026
Five international contractors attended a meeting this month to discuss Kuwait’s planned onshore gas plant (OPF), located next to the Al-Zour refinery.
The project was tendered in August by state-owned Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, with an estimated budget of $3.3bn and a bid deadline of 29 December 2026.
The OPF meeting took place on 14 October and the companies that attended were:
- Tecnimont (Italy)
- Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)
- Saipem (Italy)
- Hyundai Engineering Company (South Korea)
- Larsen & Toubro (India)
Other companies that have previously attended meetings to discuss the project include:
- Samsung E&A (South Korea)
- Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
- JGC (Japan)
If the project goes ahead as planned, the OPF is expected to be the country’s biggest oil and gas sector contract award in more than a decade.
The proposed plant will have the capacity to process up to 632 million cubic feet a day of gas and 60,000 barrels a day of condensates from the Dorra offshore field, located in Gulf waters in the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone.
Iran disputes ownership of the field, referring to it as Arash.
Iran claims the field partially extends into Iranian territory and asserts that Tehran should be a stakeholder in its development.
The Dorra field’s close proximity to Iran could make development difficult due to current security concerns.
The offshore elements of the wider Dorra field development project are expected to be particularly difficult to protect from attacks by Iran.
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Oxagon takes centre stage at Neom> MARKET FOCUS: Saudi projects hold steady> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the groundTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20817741/main.jpg -
Deal signed for 1,620-home Baghdad residential scheme Administrator22 October 2026
Iraq’s National Investment Commission (NIC) has signed an investment contract with local developer Al-Ab’ad Al-Dhahabiya for Investment & Real Estate Development to construct the Abraaj Al-Ameriya residential project in Baghdad.
The development will comprise 1,620 housing units in the Ameriya district of the capital, located behind the American University of Baghdad.
Al-Ab’ad Al-Dhahabiya is a subsidiary of Iraq-based Al-Kamil Holding Group.
The signing was attended by NIC chairman Adel Dakhil Muhammad Al-Yasiri and deputy chairman Salar Muhammad Amin, in addition to a delegation from Al-Kamil Holding Group led by chairman Mustafa Kamil Abboud and Al-Ab’ad Al-Dhahabiya managing director Muhannad Kamil Abboud.
The project forms part of Iraq’s broader programme to engage private sector developers and international investors to address a nationwide housing deficit of an estimated 3 million units through new residential compounds and masterplanned satellite cities.
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Oxagon takes centre stage at Neom> MARKET FOCUS: Saudi projects hold steady> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the groundTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20809147/main.jpg -
Building resilience into infrastructure delivery Administrator21 October 2026
The regional disruptions earlier this year tested Gulf supply chains, challenging the movement of goods and construction materials and raising questions about the ability of infrastructure programmes to maintain momentum.
For the UAE Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure, the experience reinforced the importance of the systems that support project delivery, from transport networks and customs procedures to domestic manufacturers and international suppliers.
“The disruption reinforced an important principle: infrastructure resilience is ultimately about the ability of the national system to continue operating under pressure,” says Mohammed Al-Mansoori, undersecretary for infrastructure and transport affairs.
Supply resilience
The ministry worked with ports, customs authorities, transport and rail operators, contractors, suppliers and the private sector to maintain the flow of essential goods and construction materials. It monitored critical materials and project schedules, identified alternative sources and adjusted procurement and delivery arrangements.
The response included movement exemptions and facilitation measures for more than 6,600 lorries, while rail freight operations increased from approximately one journey a week to as many as seven journeys a day. Priority and green corridors were activated, customs procedures facilitated and critical shipments prioritised at ports.
According to Al-Mansoori, these measures contributed to an estimated 25% reduction in transport costs, a 40% improvement in customs clearance times and an increase of approximately 15% in port capacity during the response period.
For infrastructure projects, the ministry worked with local manufacturers and suppliers to identify alternative sources of road and construction materials meeting the required technical specifications and quality standards. This helped reduce reliance on disrupted international supply routes and support ongoing projects.
The experience also highlighted the value of existing coordination mechanisms and partnerships.
“It also reinforced a fundamental principle: resilience means ensuring that critical infrastructure delivery does not depend on a single supplier, a single route or a single mode of transport,” Al-Mansoori says.
The ministry is planning to build on this experience by diversifying suppliers, strengthening domestic manufacturing and improving supply-chain monitoring.
Resilience is increasingly being incorporated into procurement planning. For critical materials and services, the ministry aims to identify risks early, broaden the pool of qualified suppliers and ensure viable alternatives are available.
The approach supports the UAE’s wider industrial objectives, including the national in-country value programme, which seeks to direct a greater share of procurement expenditure into the national economy.
“Our objective is not simply to purchase more locally. It is to help create competitive national supply chains,” Al-Mansoori says.
Domestic suppliers must be able to meet the technical requirements, quality standards and volumes demanded by major infrastructure programmes. Localisation is therefore about developing competitive industrial capabilities while shortening supply chains, improving responsiveness and encouraging investment.
“Localisation is not simply a procurement choice; it is an investment in national capability and long-term resilience,” Al-Mansoori says.
The ministry is also working with contractors to manage pressures from fluctuating material, insurance and transport costs. Its approach combines commercial discipline with early engagement to prevent external pressures from affecting project delivery.
“Our approach is based on early engagement, transparency and disciplined commercial management,” Al-Mansoori says. “Long-term infrastructure delivery depends on strong contractors as much as it depends on strong contracts.”
Contractors remain responsible for normal market and contractual risks, but the ministry seeks to assess exceptional pressures objectively, supported by evidence of their impact on costs and schedules. Realistic planning, early procurement and proactive risk management also help maintain momentum.
“The objective is to strike the right balance between protecting the government’s commercial interests and securing best value for money, while maintaining an efficient, sustainable contracting market capable of continuing to deliver strategic infrastructure projects,” Al-Mansoori says.
Resilience means ensuring that critical infrastructure delivery does not depend on a single supplier, a single route or a single mode of transport
Project delivery
The ministry’s focus on measurable outcomes is reflected in the Emirates Road enhancement project, which involves widening approximately 25 kilometres of Emirates Road from three to five lanes in each direction, alongside major improvements to Interchange No. 7.
The works are expected to increase road capacity by up to 65% and reduce journey times by up to 45%.
The project illustrates the ministry’s emphasis on assessing infrastructure by the benefits it delivers, rather than simply the scale of construction.
“Infrastructure success should be measured by the value it creates – not just by the kilometres we build,” Al-Mansoori says.
That principle is increasingly important as the UAE balances new construction with the long-term costs of operating and maintaining its assets. Decisions made during planning and construction can influence maintenance requirements, operating costs and performance for decades.
For Al-Mansoori, resilience, domestic capability and effective delivery are closely connected. Stronger local supply chains can reduce exposure to external shocks, while closer engagement with contractors can help projects withstand cost pressures.
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