Top pending projects in 2024
27 December 2023
This report on 2024 projects also includes: Upcoming regional projects hit $270bn
| $17.6bn |
Neom City Development Programme
Project client: Neom
Since its launch in 2017, Saudi Arabia’s Neom has announced numerous masterplans – among them the 170-kilometre-long The Line, the partly offshore industrial city Oxagon and the Trojena mountain resort. These projects make up a large part of the $17.6bn of work currently under bid within the gigaproject.
As the $500bn gigaproject becomes a busy construction site, the construction industry has started to benefit from a sharp increase in contract awards. In 2023, Neom contract awards hit $10bn, making it a major regional market in its own right – one that is only surpassed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.
| $3.6bn |
The Line
Significant progress has been made on the construction of The Line. Work on The Line’s backbone infrastructure tunnels began in June 2022, when Neom awarded $2.7bn-worth of contracts for lots two and three of the scheme to a joint venture of Shibh al-Jazira Contracting, China State Construction Engineering Corporation and FCC Construction.
Another contract worth about $1.8bn for lots four and five was awarded to a team of Archirodon, Samsung Engineering and Hyundai Engineering.
Neom is prioritising the construction of the railway that forms part of the infrastructure corridor known as the Spine within its phased delivery plan. In August 2023, Neom awarded package A3 for the mountain railway tunnels on The Line to China Construction Third Engineering Bureau. The same month, Neom invited companies to bid for the $500m track works as part of the railway network programme along the spine of The Line. The contract award is expected in the first quarter of 2024.
| $4.1bn |
Oxagon
The Oxagon industrial city, launched in late 2021, is a 48 square-kilometre development that includes onshore elements as well as floating structures offshore. Its port, Duba Port, is being expanded to act as a key conduit for the delivery of materials into Tabuk Province. Construction at the site is now well under way, with a team of Boskalis, Besix and the local Modern Building Leaders delivering the $800m first phase of the Duba Port expansion project. In October 2023, Belgium’s Deme and Greece’s Archirodon were also awarded the $1bn contract to complete the next phase of the port.
Looking ahead, contractors have submitted bids for packages one and two of the Delta Junction tunnel project as part of the Neom Industrial City Connector at Oxagon. The scheme is likely to be awarded in early 2024 and is split into two packages covering 26.5km of tunnelling.
| $3.7bn |
Trojena
Neom is steadily advancing its plans to deliver several key components of Trojena, with Saudi Arabia set to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games at the location in 2022. It recently completed the technical evaluation of the proposals for the Trojena dams, and the client and selected contractors are now negotiating the commercial aspects of the project.
In 2023, Neom engaged three contractors on an early contractor involvement basis: a consortium of the local Al-Ayuni with Turkiye-headquartered Limak; Beijing-based PowerChina; and Italy’s WeBuild. In October, Neom awarded a $1.2bn infrastructure development contract at Trojena to a joint venture of the local Al-Ayuni Investment & Contracting and Turkish Limak Holding. In August 2023, the tender was issued for the contract to construct the shell and core components of the Vault at Trojena.
In 2023, Neom contract awards hit $10bn, making it a major market in its own right – surpassed only by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar
| $7.7bn |
National Renewable Energy Programme
Project client: SPPC
In November 2023, Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) kicked off the procurement process for the fifth round of Saudi Arabia’s National Renewable Energy Programme, issuing the request for qualifications for a new batch of four solar power plant projects.
Saudi Arabia has publicly tendered over 6.6GW of renewable energy capacity since 2017, of which about 4.4GW, or 66 per cent of the total tendered capacity, has been for photovoltaic solar schemes. SPPC is set to procure 30 per cent of the kingdom’s target installed renewable energy capacity of 58.7GW by 2030.
| $7bn |
UZ1000 Upper Zakum Expansion
Project client: Adnoc Offshore
The UZ1000 Upper Zakum expansion will increase the oil production potential of Abu Dhabi’s largest producing oil asset – the Upper Zakum offshore field – to 1.2 million barrels a day (b/d). The $7bn contract for the development of surface facilities on the project is the largest single project package currently under bid in the region.
Bids for the work have been submitted by the UK’s Petrofac, the local Target Engineering Construction Company and Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas.
| $6bn |
Duwaiheen nuclear power plant
Project client: Duwaiheen Nuclear Energy Company
The $6bn first package of Saudi Arabia’s Duwaiheen nuclear power plant entails the construction of two 2,800MW nuclear reactors on behalf of the special purpose vehicle the Duwaiheen Nuclear Energy Company. In November, the deadline for the tendering process was extended to 31 December, two months later than the previous deadline. Expected bidders include China National Nuclear Corporation, France’s EDF, Korea Electric Power Corporation and Russia’s Rosatom.
| $4.8bn |
Dubai Metro Blue Line
Project client: Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority
The Dubai Metro Blue Line is a $4.8bn project that will connect the existing Red and Green lines by means of an additional 30km of track, 15.5km underground and 14.5km above ground, together with 12 additional stations and the expansion of connecting stations. The scope of the contract also includes the supply of 28 driverless trains, the construction of the train depot and all associated works. The project was tendered by the Roads & Transport Authority after the project was greenlit in November 2023. Expressions of interest are being sought from three experienced international consortiums.
| $4.5bn |
Ruwais LNG Terminal
Project client: Adnoc Gas Processing
Adnoc Gas Processing is evaluating bids for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Ruwais, UAE, worth an estimated $4.5bn. This project involves constructing a plant that will add 9.6 million tonnes a year of liquefaction capacity and will be the first electric LNG plant in the Mena region. Bids for the projects have been submitted by South Korea’s Hyundai E&C, Japan’s JGC Corporation, the US’ McDermott, local firm NPCC, Italy’s Saipem and France’s Technip Energies.
| $4bn |
Al-Zour North IWPP: Phases 2 and 3
Project client: Kapp
The $4bn phases two and three of Kuwait’s Al-Zour North independent water and power project (IWPP) involve constructing a 2,700MW power plant coupled with a desalination facility with a capacity of 165 million gallons a day. The Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (Kapp) is currently reviewing the prequalification documents for five potential bidders.
| $4bn |
North Field Production Sustainability: Phase 2
Project client: QatarEnergy LNG
The $4bn phase two, scope D of the North Field Production Sustainability project in Qatar involves the delivery of two large offshore gas compression complexes that will weigh between 25,000 and 35,000 tonnes as part of a total of 100,000 tonnes of fabrication. Bid submissions are due in December 2023, and the expectation is that both US’ McDermott and Italy’s Saipem will make bids.
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Exclusive from Meed
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Ruwais industrial complex struck by drones10 March 2026
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Abu Dhabi receives bids for 3.3GW Al-Nouf IPP10 March 2026
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Eighty-nine firms express Qassim airport interest10 March 2026
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Egypt brings new gas wells online10 March 2026
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Related Articles
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Ruwais industrial complex struck by drones
10 March 2026
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Abu Dhabi authorities are responding to a fire that has broken out at a facility in Ruwais industrial complex, caused by a drone attack.
The Ruwais industrial complex, located in Abu Dhabi's Al-Dhafra region, houses the world's fourth-largest single-site oil refinery and is operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).
No injuries have been reported at this time, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said.
The UAE continues to intercept drones and missiles fired from Iran, as attacks on the Gulf countries continue for a 11th day in the ongoing regional conflict.
Apart from the Ruwais refining complex, which has a capacity of 922,000 barrels a day (b/d) of crude oil and condensates, Ruwais industrial complex is also home to petrochemicals producer Borouge’s main production complex.
Additionally, Adnoc is in an advanced stage of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project within the Ruwais industrial complex, which will have the capacity to produce about 9.6 million tonnes a year (t/y) of LNG from two processing trains, each with a capacity of 4.8 million t/y. When the project is commissioned, which is due to take place in 2028, Adnoc’s LNG production capacity will more than double to about 15 million t/y.
Separately, Taziz – a 60:40 joint venture of Adnoc Group and Abu Dhabi’s industrial holding company ADQ – is overseeing the development of at least seven specialty chemicals plants in its planned derivatives zone in Ruwais Industrial City.
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Contractors submit bids for Dorra offshore gas project packages
10 March 2026
Contractors have submitted bids to Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on a project to develop natural gas from the Dorra gas field, located in the waters of the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone.
KJO, which is jointly owned by Saudi Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Company and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) subsidiary Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC), has divided the project’s scope of work into four EPC packages – three offshore and one onshore.
Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (L&TEH) has won package one of the Dorra facilities project, which covers the EPC of seven offshore jackets and the laying of intra-field pipelines. The contract awarded by KJO to L&TEH is estimated to be valued at $140m-$150m, MEED reported in October.
Contractors submitted bids for the remaining three packages – offshore packages 2A and 2B and onshore package three by the final deadline of 9 March, according to sources.
Two consortiums of contractors submitted bids for the packages, sources told MEED:
- NMDC Energy (UAE) / Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)
- Saipem (Italy) / Larsen and Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
KJO had extended the bid submission deadlines for these packages several times since last year.
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. Package three includes the EPC of onshore gas processing facilities.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are pressing ahead with their plan to jointly produce 1 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) 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 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 Saudi Aramco and KPC to produce and process gas from the Dorra field that has advanced in the past few months.
AGOC onshore Khafji gas plant
AGOC has set a current bid submission deadline of 22 April for seven EPC packages as part of a project to construct the Khafji gas plant, which will process gas from the Dorra field onshore Saudi Arabia.
MEED previously reported that AGOC issued main tenders for the seven EPC packages in 2025. Contractors were initially set deadlines of 24 October for technical bid submissions and 9 November for the submission of commercial bids, which was then extended by AGOC until 22 December.
The seven EPC packages cover a range of works, including open-art and licensed process facilities, pipelines, industrial support infrastructure, site preparation, overhead transmission lines, power supply systems and main operational and administrative buildings.
France-based Technip Energies has carried out a concept study and front-end engineering and design (feed) work on the entire Dorra gas field development programme.
Progress has been hampered by a geopolitical dispute over ownership of the Dorra gas field. Iran, which refers to the field as Arash, claims it partially extends into Iranian territory and asserts that Tehran should be a stakeholder in its development. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia maintain that the field lies entirely within their jointly administered Neutral Zone – also known as the Divided Zone – and that Iran has no legal basis for its claim.
In February 2024, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia reiterated their claim to the Dorra field in a joint statement issued during an official meeting in Riyadh of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
Since that show of strength and unity, projects targeting the production and processing of gas from the Dorra field have gained momentum.
KGOC onshore processing facilities
KGOC has initiated early engagement with contractors for the main EPC tendering process for a planned Dorra onshore gas processing facility, which is to be located in Kuwait.
KGOC is at the feed stage of the project, which is estimated to be valued at up to $3.3bn. The firm is now expected to issue the main EPC tender within the first quarter of this year, MEED recently reported.
The proposed facility will receive gas from a pipeline from the Dorra offshore field, which is being separately developed by KJO. The complex will have the capacity to process up to 632 million cf/d of gas and 88.9 million barrels a day of condensates from the Dorra field.
The facility will be located near the Al-Zour refinery, owned by another KPC subsidiary, Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company.
A 700,000-square-metre plot has been allocated next to the Al-Zour refinery for the gas processing facility and discussions regarding survey work are ongoing. The site could require shoring, backfilling and dewatering.
The onshore gas processing plant will also supply surplus gas to KPC’s upstream business, Kuwait Oil Company, for possible injection into its oil fields.
Additionally, KGOC plans to award licensed technology contracts to US-based Honeywell UOP and Shell subsidiary Shell Catalysts & Technologies for the plant’s acid gas removal unit and sulphur recovery unit, respectively.
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Abu Dhabi receives bids for 3.3GW Al-Nouf IPP
10 March 2026
Two joint ventures have submitted bids for the development of the 3.3GW Al-Nouf independent power producer (IPP) project in Abu Dhabi.
Located within the newly established Al-Nouf complex, the facility will be the largest single-site, carbon-capture-ready, combined-cycle gas turbine plant in the UAE.
State utility and offtaker Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) issued a request for proposals for the project last August.
Ewec received statements of qualifications for the contract in April 2025.
The groups that submitted bids are:
- Aljomaih Energy & Water (Saudi Arabia) and China Energy Engineering Corporation
- Orascom (Egypt) and Sumitomo (Japan)
As MEED previosuly reported, the project will follow the model of Abu Dhabi’s IPP programme, in which developers enter into a long-term agreement with Ewec as the sole procurer.
This involves the development, financing, construction, operation, maintenance and ownership of the plant, with the successful developer or developer consortium owning up to 40% of the entity. The remaining equity will be held indirectly by the Abu Dhabi government.
The project site was selected for its ability to accommodate both seawater-cooled power generation and reverse osmosis desalination technologies.
The plant will have the capacity to support several utility-scale energy and desalination projects in the future.
The facility is scheduled to begin commercial operations in the third quarter of 2029.
Taweelah C IPP
Last year, the Taweelah C IPP became the first gas-fired power plant project to be procured by Abu Dhabi since 2020, when Ewec awarded Japan’s Marubeni Corporation the contract to develop the Fujairah 3 IPP.
Ewec is procuring the 2,500MW gas-fired IPP, which will be located in the Al-Taweelah power and desalination complex, approximately 50 kilometres to the northeast of Abu Dhabi.
It is understood that three groups have submitted bids for the developer contract. These are:
- Sumitomo (Japan) / Korean Midland Power / Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation
- Aljomaih Energy & Water (Saudi Arabia) / Sembcorp (Singapore)
- Etihad Water & Electricity (UAE) / Korea Western Power (Kowepo) / Kyuden (Japan)
A team of UK-based Alderbrook Finance and US-based Sargent & Lundy is providing financial and technical advisory services to Ewec for the Taweelah C IPP
The power purchase agreement for the project was previously expected to be signed by the end of 2025, with the project scheduled to begin commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2028.
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Eighty-nine firms express Qassim airport interest
10 March 2026
Eighty-nine local and international firms have expressed interest in a contract to develop Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz International airport in Qassim, Saudi Arabia.
The project is being developed by Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Holding Company (Matarat), through the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP).
In a statement, NCP said the list includes 55 local companies and 34 international firms comprising 19 developers; 33 engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors; 13 operators; 11 advisors; nine equity investors; three financial institutions and one in the other category.
These are:
Developers
- Ports Projects Management & Development Company (local)
- Tamasuk Holding (local)
- Makyol (Turkiye)
- Al-Gihaz Holding (local)
- Alfanar Company (local)
- Nesma Infrastructure & Technology (local)
- Plenary (Australia)
- WCT International (Malaysia)
- Al-Bawani (local)
- Egis (France)
- Mada International Holding (local)
- Vision Invest (local)
- Almutlaq Real Estate Investment Company (local)
- Samsung C&T (South Korea)
- Sarh Developments (local)
- IC Ictas (Turkiye)
- Kalyon (Turkiye)
- Saudi Binladin Group (local)
- Lamar Holding (Bahrain)
EPC Contractors
- SkyBridge (US)
- Avic (China)
- Saudi Pan Kingdom Company (local)
- Fas Energy & Infrastructure (local)
- Alghanim International (Kuwait)
- Abdul Ali Al-Ajmi (local)
- Technical Development Company for Contracting (local)
- China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (China)
- Almansouryah General Contracting (local)
- Al-Fahd Company (local)
- YDA Insaat (Turkiye)
- China Harbour Engineering Company (China)
- Rowad Modern Engineering (Egypt)
- Abdullah Fahad Al-Khaledi Company for General Contracting (Saudi Arabia)
- Shade Corporation (local)
- Al-Ayuni Investment & Contracting (local)
- Setec (France)
- International Hospitals Construction Company (local)
- Arkad Engineering & Construction Company (local)
- Alrawaf Trading & Contracting (local)
- Abdulrahman Saad Alrashid & Sons (local)
- Mistacoglu Holding (Turkiye)
- Al-Jaber Contracting (Qatar)
- Mobco Construction (local)
- Sateaa Al-Tameer for Real Estate Development & Investment (local)
- China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd (China)
- China Construction Excellence Company (China)
- Safari Company (Saudi Arabia)
- Al-Sharif Group Holdings (local)
- Nayef Abdulkarim Company Al-Rakhis Contracting Company (local)
- Al-Yamama (local)
- Almabani (local)
- Buna Al-Khaleej Contracting (local)
Operators
- Annasban Group (local)
- Indiza Airport Management (South Africa)
- GMR Airports (India)
- Flynas (local)
- Bangalore International Airport Limited (India)
- Idemia Public Security (France)
- Saudi Ground Services (local)
- Oman Airports Management Company (Oman)
- Al-Qussie International (local)
- Serco Saudi Arabia (local)
- Al-Shams National Global Energy (local)
- DAA International (Ireland)
- TAV Airports (Turkiye)
Advisors
- Contrax International (UAE)
- Typsa (Spain)
- Ghesa Ingenieria Y Tecnologia (Spain)
- Pini Group (Switzerland)
- Hill International (United States)
- Walter P Moore Engineering Consultants (United States)
- Foster + Partners (UK)
- Arabtech Jardaneh (Jordan)
- Currie & Brown (UK)
- Meinhardt (Singapore)
- Populous (UK)
Equity Investors
- Namaya International Investment Company (local)
- Zamil Group Investment Company (local)
- Buhur for investment (local)
- Asyad Holding (local)
- IDS Consulting (local)
- Al-Gassim Investment Holding (local)
- Erada Advanced Projects (local)
- Sumou Global Investment (local)
- Abrdn Investcorp Infrastructure Partners (Bahrain)
Financial Institutions
- Bank Aljazira (local)
- Arab National Bank (local)
- Piper Sandler Companies (United States)
Other
- Middle East Tasks Company Metco (local)
The project scope includes the redevelopment of the passenger terminal as well as other associated facilities such as airside infrastructure, including runway, taxiways and aprons.
The project will be developed on a design, finance, construction, operations, maintenance and transfer basis.
The clients issued an expression of interest notice for the project on 9 February, and companies were given until 23 February to submit responses.
The latest development follows Matarat Holding and NCP prequalifying five teams to bid for a contract to develop the new Taif international airport project in Mecca Province in January.
According to local media reports, four consortiums and one standalone company have been prequalified to proceed to the next stage of the project.
The new Taif International airport will be located 21 kilometres southeast of the existing Taif airport, with a capacity to accommodate 2.5 million passengers by 2030.
The clients opted for a 30-year build-transfer-operate (BTO) contract model, including the construction period.
Previous tenders
The Taif, Hail and Qassim airport schemes were previously tendered and awarded as public-private partnership (PPP) projects using a BTO model.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) awarded the contracts to develop four airport PPP projects to two separate consortiums in 2017.
A team of Tukiye’s TAV Airports and the local Al-Rajhi Holding Group won the 30-year concession agreement to build, transfer and operate airport passenger terminals in Yanbu, Qassim and Hail.
A second team, comprising Lebanon’s Consolidated Contractors Company, Germany’s Munich Airport International and local firm Asyad Group, won the BTO contract to develop Taif International airport.
However, these projects stalled following the restructuring of the kingdom’s aviation sector.
Saudi Arabia has already privatised airports, including the $1.2bn Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International airport in Medina, which was developed as a PPP and opened in 2015.
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Egypt brings new gas wells online
10 March 2026
Egypt has brought new wells online in the Mediterranean Sea and the country’s Western Desert region, according to a statement from Egypt’s Petroleum & Mineral Resources Ministry.
In the Mediterranean, the second well in the West El-Burullus (WEB) offshore field was brought online, increasing the field’s output from about 25 to 37 million cubic feet a day (cf/d).
The project is being developed and produced through a joint‑venture vehicle known as PetroWeb, in which the lead partner is US-based Cheiron.
The production is forecast to exceed 70 million cf/d following the connection of the third well in the coming days, while the drilling of the fourth well has been completed with promising results, according to the ministry.
The development plan includes drilling two additional wells on the Papyrus platform, linked to WEB, to maximise the utilisation of the concession area's resources and accelerate production.
The well in the Western Desert has been brought on by Badr El-Din Petroleum Company (Bapetco), which is a joint venture of London-headquartered Shell and state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.
Production tests showed rates of 10-15 million cf/d, in addition to 300–650 b/d of condensate, according to Egypt’s Petroleum & Mineral Resources Ministry.
The latest well has increased the confirmed reserves in the area from 15 billion cubic feet to 25 billion cubic feet.
Four more production wells are planned for in the Badr El-Din concession as Bapetco continues its push to ramp up production from the field.
Egypt is pushing to increase domestic production of gas amid soaring global prices due to the US and Israel’s war with Iran.
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