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• 
  Region remains top of construction momentum index

  7 August 2025

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  The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region remains the most active global market according to the latest Construction Project Momentum Index (CPMI) report released by GlobalData.

  The region recorded a CPMI score of 1.01 in June 2025, a 9% increase from May. In May, the score was 0.93, which was a 12% increase from April. This growth reflects ongoing efforts to diversify economies and invest in infrastructure projects across the region.

  The three-month moving average score remained stable, shifting from 0.96 in April to 0.97 in June.

  For projects at the execution stage, the CPMI maintained a strong performance with a score of 1.13, slightly down from 1.21 in May. This score reflects ongoing commitments to completing significant projects, particularly in the energy and utilities sector, which achieved a score of 1.40, up from 1.04 in May. This surge indicates increased investments in renewable energy and infrastructure upgrades.

  Infrastructure challenges

  The industrial sector also showed notable improvement, scoring 1.20, a significant rise from 0.49. However, the infrastructure sector faced challenges, experiencing a significant decline to a score of 0.12 from 0.49 in May, raising concerns about the pace of essential infrastructure projects.

  The commercial and leisure sector saw a downturn, decreasing to a score of 0.73 from 1.25, reflecting the ongoing impact of economic uncertainties. Meanwhile, the institutional sector recorded a score of 0.88, down from 1.35, indicating a slowdown in public sector projects. The residential sector remained relatively stable with a score of 0.90, slightly down from 0.92.

  Other markets

  Australasia also topped the index with a score of 1.01, driven primarily by advancements in the energy and utilities sector, which scored 1.32. The sector's growth is attributed to increased investments in renewable energy projects and infrastructure upgrades, positioning Australasia as a leader in sustainable construction practices.

  North America and China reported scores of 0.97 and 0.88 respectively, reflecting steady progress in their construction sectors. North America’s resilience can be attributed to ongoing infrastructure projects and a recovering economy, while China continues to navigate its post-pandemic recovery with a focus on urban development.

  Sub-Saharan Africa also showed promise with a score of 0.83, indicating a gradual improvement in construction activities, although challenges remain in terms of funding and project execution.

  Sector performance varied widely, with the commercial and leisure sector in Latin America lagging at a score of 0.50, underscoring the region's struggles. Conversely, the residential sector in South Asia performed well, achieving a score of 0.93, driven by increasing demand for housing and urban development.

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  Adnoc Gas registers highest-ever quarterly profit

  6 August 2025

  Adnoc Gas has announced a 16% year-on-year growth in net income to $1.4bn in the second quarter of 2025, which is the highest-ever profit the company has achieved in a quarter.

  The company, which is the natural gas processing subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), registered an 8% year-on-year increase to $2.3bn in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda).

  Adnoc Gas’ board of directors has approved an interim dividend of $1.8bn, up 5% year-on-year, scheduled for distribution in September. The company is the highest dividend payer on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).

  Strong performance

  “Q2 2025 saw a strong performance across Adnoc Gas’ product portfolio, especially in the local gas market. The company serves local customers under long-term contracts with competitive prices and improved underlying margins,” Adnoc Gas said in a 6 August statement.

  “Adnoc Gas also capitalised on opportunities to sell additional volumes at favourable prices, in the local gas market and in the export market as liquefied natural gas (LNG). The Q2 results show the company’s product portfolio is resilient to oil price volatility.” 

  Following its inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in June, Adnoc Gas experienced a net capital inflow of approximately $500m. The company is now on course to join the UK's FTSE Index in September, with market estimates of added inflows of more than $200m.

  Adnoc Gas

  Adnoc Group announced the creation of Adnoc Gas through the merger of its subsidiaries Adnoc Gas Processing and Adnoc LNG in November 2022. Adnoc Gas began operating as a commercial entity on 1 January 2023.

  The consolidation of Adnoc’s gas processing and LNG operations into Adnoc Gas has created one of the world’s largest gas-processing entities, with a processing capacity of about 10 billion standard cubic feet of gas a day across eight onshore and offshore sites, which include its Asab, Bab, Bu Hasa, Habshan and Ruwais plants.

  The company also owns a 3,250-kilometre (km) gas pipeline network to supply feedstock to its customers in the UAE. This sales gas pipeline network is being expanded to over 3,500km through the estimated $3bn Estidama project.

  In February, Adnoc Group completed a marketed offering of approximately 3.1 billion shares in Adnoc Gas, raising $2.8bn from the exercise. The offering represented 4% of the issued and outstanding share capital of Adnoc Gas.

  Following the marketed offering of shares, Adnoc Group continues to hold the majority 86% of shares in Adnoc Gas.

  The parent entity listed 5% of Adnoc Gas’ shares on the ADX in March 2023, in an initial public offering (IPO) from which it raised about $2.5bn.

  Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) owns the remaining 5% shares in Adnoc Gas.

  

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  Australian-Omani team wins copper licence in sultanate

  6 August 2025

  A joint venture of Australian exploration company Alara Resources and Oman-based Al-Tamman Trading & Establishment has won a mining licence for the Daris 3A5 prospect, part of the Daris copper-gold project in Oman.

  The licence covers a 650,000-square-metre portion of Block 7, a mineral-rich zone located approximately 150 kilometres west of the capital Muscat.

  The licence has been granted by the sultanate’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM). Alara and Al-Tamman are equal shareholders in the joint venture, called Daris Resources.

  Alara, in a statement, said that while the licence granted by the MEM allows for future mining activities at the Daris 3A5 site, further exploration work is still required to determine whether the area contains economically-viable resources for exploitation.

  “This announcement does not imply that potentially economic mineralisation has been discovered at Daris 3A5. Further exploration is required to ascertain whether economic mineralisation exists at this prospect,” the Australian Securities Exchange-listed company said.

  Initial exploration work carried out by Alara between 2010 and 2012, which included airborne electromagnetic (VTEM) surveys, ground magnetic surveys and diamond drilling, confirmed high-grade copper mineralisation at the Daris 3A5 prospect.

  Notable drill intercepts included 3.45 metres at 10.28% copper, 17.2 metres at 8.05% copper and 30.75 metres at 4.69% copper. These promising results laid the groundwork for the mining licence application submitted in 2013.

  ALSO READ: Oman’s first copper recycling facility launches in Sohar

  Alara, in its statement, added that the award of the mining licence followed a thorough and lengthy approval process by the MEM, which involved extensive technical assessments and stakeholder consultations.

  Looking ahead, Alara plans a comprehensive development programme over the next 12 months to define the resource and prepare for potential mining operations. This includes conducting new geophysical surveys, further diamond drilling and metallurgical test work to evaluate the recovery potential.

  Should the findings warrant it, the company aims to issue a mineral resource estimate and reserve classification under the JORC Code, alongside detailed mine planning and potential toll treatment agreements with existing copper processing facilities in Oman.

  The licence for the Daris 3A5 prospect is Alara’s second copper mining licence in Oman. The Australian firm operates Block 8 in the sultanate through another joint venture with Oman-based Awtad Copper.

  Separately, Alara is also the majority shareholder in the Al-Hadeetha Resources joint venture, which produces copper concentrates from the Wash-hi Majaza concession in Block 22B in Oman’s North Al-Sharqiyah governorate.

  The Al-Hadeetha joint venture, which won the Wash-hi Majaza concession in June 2018, consisted of Alara owning a 51% stake, with local firms Al-Hadeetha Investment and Al-Tasnim Infrastructure Services holding 30% and 19% stakes respectively. The joint venture became the first local/international consortium to secure a copper mining licence in Oman.

  India-based South West Pinnacle Exploration Limited later joined the Al-Hadeetha Resources joint venture, after securing a mining licence from the MEM for Block 22B in January this year. It holds a 17.5% stake in the joint venture.

  Al-Hadeetha operates a copper concentration plant in the concession, which has a capacity of 1 million tonnes a year and was commissioned in March 2024, with an initial 10-year mine life.

  ALSO READ: Oman and Hong Kong firm launch $200m energy transition fund

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  Indrajit Sen
• 
  German/Indian joint venture starts work on GCC rail

  6 August 2025

  

   

  A joint venture of German consultancy Dornier and India's Balaji Railroad Systems has been awarded a contract to prepare the operational plan for the GCC rail scheme.

  In October last year, MEED exclusively reported that the evaluation of bids was in the final stages.

  The General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf is the authority leading the development of the project. Officials from the secretariat told MEED last year that a deadline of 2030 has been set for the project to be operational.

  The secretariat has also invited consultants to bid for another contract to prepare an asset management data sharing system study for the scheme. The tender was issued on 5 August with a bid submission deadline of 6 October.

  The GCC railway project has continued to make progress since the official announcement by the GCC secretariat in January 2021, which effectively restarted the project. A string of recent moves and statements has meant all six GCC states have either declared or signalled their plans for their sections of the rail network.

  GCC leaders approved the establishment of the GCC Rail Authority in January 2022. The company was entrusted with overall policymaking and coordination among member states to ensure the smooth delivery and operation of the scheme.

  GCC railway line

  According to the overall plan, the railway line will stretch over 2,177 kilometres (km) starting from Kuwait, through Dammam in Saudi Arabia, to Bahrain across a causeway to be constructed between the two countries, and from Dammam to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and finally to Muscat through Sohar in Oman.

  The rail length within the member states is 684km in the UAE, 663km in Saudi Arabia, 306km in Oman, 283km in Qatar, 145km in Kuwait and 36km in Bahrain.

  The project has been designed to have a passenger speed of 220 km an hour (km/h) and for freight trains of 80-120km/h.

  With high levels of project activity, governments in spending mode and the agreements under the Al-Ula Declaration, the latest efforts to restart the GCC railway project may make more progress than previous attempts. If the railway is finally completed, it could prove transformational for a region that feels connected to the world but divided between its constituent parts.

  

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  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Firms submit bids for Aramco carbon capture PMC

  6 August 2025

  

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  Saudi Aramco has received proposals from engineering firms for a tender related to project management consultancy (PMC) services for the first phase of its Accelerated Carbon Capture and Sequestration (ACCS) project.

  The project aims to develop a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub in Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province that will have the capacity to store and sequester up to 9 million metric tonnes a year (t/y) of carbon dioxide (CO2).

  Aramco received bids for the PMC tender by the deadline of 29 July, sources told MEED.

  The initial bid submission deadline was set for 30 June.

  The following firms, among others, are understood to be bidding for the PMC tender related to the first phase of Aramco’s ACCS project:

  • Berkeley (UK)
  • Engineers India (India)
  • KBR (US)
  • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)
  • Wood (UK)
  • Worley (Australia)

  MEED previously reported that Aramco issued the PMC tender in June. It set an initial bid submission date of 14 July, which it then extended until 29 July.

  The selected project management consultant will oversee engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on the first phase of the ACCS project, according to sources.

  MEED reported in February that Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon, a subsidiary of India’s Larsen & Toubro Group, had been picked by Aramco to perform EPC work on the project. The value of the project’s main EPC contract is estimated to be about $1.5bn, sources said.

  Following this, Al-Khobar-based contractor Denys Arabia won a contract for the EPC work on the main pipeline network. The value of the contract is estimated to be $700m, according to sources.

  Separately, Saudi Steel Pipe Company announced its subsidiary, Global Pipe Company, had won an order from Aramco for the supply of longitudinal submerged arc welding pipes for the ACCS project’s first phase. The value of the contract is SR910m ($243m) and its duration is 15 months, Saudi Steel Pipe Company said in a filing with the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) on 10 February.

  Aramco signed a shareholders’ agreement in December 2024 with Germany-headquartered Linde and US-based oil field services provider SLB for the first phase of the ACCS project.

  Under the agreement, Aramco took control of a 60% equity interest in the planned CCS hub in Jubail, with Linde and SLB taking 20% stakes each. In early 2023, MEED reported that Aramco had brought on board SLB (formerly Schlumberger) and Linde, the world’s largest industrial gas producer, as partners for phase one of the ACCS.

  Construction of the planned CCS hub in Jubail is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2027. “Later phases are expected to further expand its capacity,” Aramco said in December.

  UK-headquartered Wood Group has performed the front-end engineering and design works on the first phase of the ACCS scheme, MEED previously reported.

  Japan’s Mizuho is understood to be the financial advisor for the ACCS scheme.

  Aramco ACCS objectives

  The objective of the ACCS scheme, which is expected to have nine phases in total, is to capture CO2 from Aramco’s northern gas plants of Wasit, Fadhili and Khursaniyah, as well as from the operations of its subsidiary, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), and Saudi industrial gases provider Air Products Qudra.

  The ACCS project’s first phase is expected to have a capacity of about 9 million t/y, with the collection pipeline system designed to support a future expansion of the scheme.

  The main facility to be built in Jubail as part of the first phase of the ACCS will capture streams from the acid gas enrichment units of the Wasit, Fadhili and Khursaniyah plants. The CO2 will be compressed, dried and fed into the collection pipeline system.

  The network will also absorb additional CO2 volumes from Sabic and Air Products Qudra after the initial compression and drying of the CO2 discharge at their respective facilities.

  The combined gaseous CO2 stream will then be compressed into dense-phase CO2 at the centralised compression facility, located at Fadhili, and sent into the main pipeline for sequestration.

  The main pipeline network will transport the CO2 about 240 kilometres away for injection into the Jaham-Duhul-Maqlah saline aquifer.

  The scope of work on the ACCS project’s first phase finishes at the injection well control skids. Injection wells and other associated units are outside the scope of the ACCS project, Aramco said in the solicitation of interest document released in January 2023.

  Aramco sustainability measures

  Aramco is making its core operations more environmentally friendly to meet its target of attaining net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and in line with Saudi Arabia’s net-zero emissions by 2060 target.

  “The [ACCS] project will support the company’s ambition to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions across its wholly-owned operated assets by 2050,” Aramco said in its December statement.

  Unlike its international counterparts, the oil major does not face significant pressure from climate activists and investors to slash CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions and ramp up efforts to tackle climate change.

  However, as the main engine of Saudi Arabia’s economy, Aramco is crucial in helping the kingdom achieve its environmental commitments.

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  Indrajit Sen