Related Articles

• 
  Omani state miner begins silica-sand production Indrajit Sen

  23 September 2025

  State-backed Minerals Development Oman (MDO) has announced the start of silica-sand production from its Block 51F concession in the sultanate.

  Concession Block 51F is in the Wilayat of Mahout in Al-Wusta Governorate and covers 2,156 square kilometres (sq km).

  The block is estimated to contain about 47 million tonnes of silica, limestone and dolomite.

  The production site covers approximately 5 sq km within Block 51F. MDO, which was awarded concession rights for Block 51F by Oman’s Ministry of Energy & Minerals (MEMR) in October last year, will act as the resource owner and overall project supervisor.

  MDO has appointed Muscat-based The Earth Sciences Consultancy Centre to oversee operations and development of the silica-sand project, including investment and production management.

  According to the project development plan approved by the MEMR, initial production capacity is projected at 100,000 tonnes a year (t/y), with a purity level of about 98%.

  The initial focus will be on producing and supplying raw silica to local and regional markets to meet growing demand and reduce import dependency, the Oman News Agency (ONA) reported.

  Future developments will include establishing a primary silica-processing facility to improve product quality and attract high-tech industries such as semiconductors, glass manufacturing, chemical processing and metallurgical applications, ONA added.

  ALSO READ: Oman floats minerals trading company

  Silica is a vital raw material for several industries and is used in the production of glass, display screens, semiconductors and advanced materials for solar power and energy storage.

  MDO is a subsidiary of the sultanate’s sovereign wealth institution, the Oman Investment Authority (OIA), and was established in 2017. In addition to Block 51F, the company holds concession rights for nearby Block 51K in Al-Wusta Governorate.

  MDO began work on the Naqa Salt project in Block 51K last year. Spread across 109 sq km within the 51K concession, the Naqa Salt facility will have an output capacity of up to 2 million t/y. The site is also in the Wilayat of Mahout, near the port of Duqm.

  MDO will invest approximately $35m in the project, which it says will produce salt with up to 99% purity.

  In May, MDO signed an agreement with India-based Dev Salt to partner on the Naqa Salt project. The company did not specify the nature or terms of the agreement; it is understood to be an offtake agreement for future production.

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  EtihadWE tenders Ajman battery storage project Mark Dowdall

  23 September 2025

  Etihad Water & Electricity (EtihadWE) has invited bids for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a 50MWh battery energy storage system (bess) in Ajman.

  The project, listed under reference number 283E/2025, has a bid deadline of 25 September.

  The tender requires bidders to provide a 5% bid bond valid for 180 days.

  According to the tender, the main contract covers site investigation, detailed engineering, and the supply, installation and commissioning of all systems. The EPC contractor will also handle civil and mechanical works, transformers, auxiliary and protection systems, with testing and acceptance covering factory acceptance tests (FAT), site acceptance tests (SAT) and trial runs.

  The successful bidder must provide a comprehensive annual maintenance programme under a 15‑year service-level agreement, including preventive and corrective maintenance, spares management, monitoring and training of EtihadWE personnel.

  To qualify, firms must demonstrate experience of at least two completed utility-scale bess projects of 50MWh or more, including one in hot desert conditions, the utility said. These projects must be less than eight years old and proven to be in successful operation.

  

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  Mark Dowdall
• 
  Oman makes strides forward in global LNG race Indrajit Sen

  22 September 2025

  Commentary
  Indrajit Sen
  Oil & gas editor

  Oman has recently made notable strides in the global race to lead the production and export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) — a critical enabler of the energy transition.

  The Omani government made headlines in July last year, when it announced that majority state-owned Oman LNG would build a new train at its Qalhat LNG production complex in Sur. The new LNG train will have an output capacity of 3.8 million tonnes a year (t/y), increasing Oman LNG’s total production capacity to 15.2 million t/y when it is commissioned in 2029.

  Oman LNG recently made key progress on its project to add a fourth processing train at the Sur LNG complex, shortlisting contractors to participate in the main tender for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works.

  The start of the EPC tendering process and selection of bidders comes within ten months of Oman LNG awarding the contract for front-end engineering and design (feed) works on the project to US-based consultancy KBR.

  Separately, MEED recently reported that France’s TotalEnergies is studying a potential expansion of its Marsa LNG bunkering and export terminal in Oman. The move is significant considering that the first phase of the project is currently under construction in the sultanate’s northern industrial city of Sohar, and will have an output capacity of 1 million t/y.

  TotalEnergies purportedly began an initial study on a potential second phase of the Marsa LNG facility earlier this year. The French energy major might consider doubling the output capacity of the LNG complex, although the plan is yet to be laid out, according to sources.

  Earlier this year, TotalEnergies appointed French contractor Technip Energies as a consultant to perform concept and feasibility studies on the proposed expansion phase of the Marsa LNG terminal, sources told MEED.

  With Oman LNG going full throttle with its fourth LNG train project, and TotalEnergies mulling a potential doubling of LNG production in Oman, the sultanate is on course to establish itself as a prominent player in the global LNG domain by the end of this decade.

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Kuwait considers relaunching $10bn chemicals complex Wil Crisp

  22 September 2025

  

   

  Kuwait is considering relaunching prequalification for its planned Al-Zour integrated complex upgrade programme (Zicup), which is estimated to be worth $10bn.

  The Zicup project, also known as the Al-Zour petrochemicals project, or the Petrochemical Refinery Integration Al-Zour Project (Prize), is expected to be integrated with the $16bn Al-Zour refinery and has faced significant delays in recent years.

  The project is being developed by state-owned Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (Kipic) and the company has not made a final investment decision for the project or revealed a schedule for when the project will be approved and tendered.

  In June 2024, MEED reported that Kuwait was still seeking financing for the project.

  At the time, a source said that Kipic was looking for a similar financing deal to Kuwait’s Clean Fuels Project, which upgraded and integrated two of the country’s biggest oil refineries.

  For the Clean Fuels Project, Italian export credit agency Sace guaranteed a $625m loan issued by a pool of international banks, led by BBVA Milan Branch in the role of Sace facility agent.

  The credit arrangement helped state-owned Kuwait National Petroleum Company to finance its strategic $14.5bn Clean Fuels Project, which includes the modernisation and expansion of its Mina Abdullah and Mina Al-Ahmadi refineries.

  In September 2024, MEED reported that Kipic had signalled to contractors that the project was no longer a priority.

  However, in recent months, Kipic has started to talk to contractors about the project again and is considering relaunching prequalification for the project, according to industry sources.

  One source said: “Discussions are now ongoing within Kipic about the future of this project and it could see movement next year. It’s looking like it could go ahead.

  “One of the discussions that is currently ongoing in Kipic is around potentially relaunching the prequalification for this project.

  “The future of this project is still uncertain – but it is looking much more like it is going to progress compared to at this time last year.

  “At this time last year, nobody at Kipic wanted to talk about it and it was clearly not a priority.

  “Now, this is a project that is back on the table and they are definitely looking at ways to make it work.”

  In January 2023, MEED reported that US-based engineering company Fluor and South Korea’s SK Engineering & Construction had withdrawn from the bidding process for the project.

  Kipic prequalified bidders for the planned petrochemicals complex in April 2021.

  It published a list of bidders eligible to bid on the three main packages of the project.

  The original list of the seven groups prequalified to bid for packages one and two comprised:

  • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain) / Sinopec Engineering Company (China)
  • Samsung Engineering (South Korea) / CTCI Corporation (Taiwan) / Consolidated Contractors Company (Lebanon)
  • Fluor (US) / Daewoo Engineering & Construction (South Korea) / China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering Corporation
  • Saipem (Italy) / Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
  • Technip Energies (France)
  • SK Engineering & Construction (South Korea) / Petrofac (UK)
  • JGC Corporation (Japan)

  The scope of package one includes gasoline and olefins units. It was estimated to be worth $4bn and is also known as Gasoline Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Package 5011.

  The scope of package two included aromatics units. It was known as Petrochemical EPC Package 5012.

  Package three, known as Marine EPC Package 5013, covered the building of port and export facilities and onshore and offshore pipelines.

  Originally, four groups prequalified to bid for package three, estimated to be worth $1.5bn:

  • China Harbour Engineering Company (China) / Saipem (Italy)
  • SK Engineering & Construction Company (South Korea) / Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon Engineering (India)
  • Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company (South Korea) / Hyundai Engineering Company (South Korea)
  • Eiffage Genie Civil Marine (France) / Afcon Infrastructure (India) / Daewoo Engineering & Construction Company (South Korea)

  The project was first announced in 2006.

  

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  Wil Crisp
• 
  Aseer-Jizan highway is a test case for Gulf infrastructure PPPs Yasir Iqbal

  19 September 2025

  Commentary
  Yasir Iqbal
  Construction writer

  Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

  The start of tendering for the Aseer-Jizan highway public-private patnership (PPP) is a watershed moment in the Gulf region's approach to infrastructure. For decades, the major highways in the GCC have been delivered in the same way: government-funded, government-managed, with little appetite for risk-sharing.

  This project breaks that mould. Aiming to be the first full-concession transport PPP in the region, it hands the private partner responsibility for design, construction, financing, operations and maintenance. This is a major step forward.

  According to industry experts, the move signals that Saudi Arabia, and by extension the GCC, is ready to treat private investors as partners rather than contractors. The PPP models in social infrastructure have been useful experiments, but this case, where the private sector is taking on long-term risks, demonstrates the market’s growing maturity.

  This raises the bar for private involvement and brings the model closer to precedents seen in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

  However, there are still unknowns: the offtaker is new to the PPP market, and that adds uncertainty. But for investors, the prestige of being associated with Saudi Arabia’s first highway concession has its own appeal. As long as the payment guarantees are firm, the risk may be worth the reward. 

  If the project is executed well, it will set the standard for a new pipeline of road, airport and rail schemes. It will also deliver confidence, both for investors, who want predictable frameworks, and for governments, which want to stretch budgets without compromising delivery.

  The wider GCC will study the Aseer-Jizan highway PPP carefully. The concession is the first test case that could pave the way for the region's investment-driven infrastructure developments.

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  Yasir Iqbal