Related Articles

• 
  Riyadh advances with rail link prequalifications

  20 November 2025

  

   

  Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) is expected to begin the second stage of the prequalification process for a contract covering the construction of a new railway line, known as the Riyadh Rail Link, which will run from the north to the south of Riyadh.

  MEED understands that the consortiums need to propose self-funded financing arrangements for the project as part of the new round of prequalifications.

  Contractors submitted their initial prequalification documents earlier this month.

  The scope of work includes constructing a 35-kilometre-long double-track railway line connecting SAR’s North-South Railway to the Eastern Railway network.

  The contract also covers the procurement, construction and installation of associated infrastructure such as viaducts, civil works, utility installations, signalling systems and other related works.

  The project is expected to form a key component of the Saudi Landbridge railway.

  The Saudi Landbridge is an estimated $7bn project comprising more than 1,500km of new track. Its core component is a 900km new railway between Riyadh and Jeddah, which will provide direct freight access to the capital from King Abdullah Port on the Red Sea.

  Other key sections include upgrades to the existing Riyadh-Dammam line and a link between King Abdullah Port and Yanbu.

  The start of tendering activity for the Riyadh Rail Link project makes the construction of the Saudi Landbridge more likely. 

  The project is one of the kingdom’s most anticipated infrastructure programmes. Plans to develop it were first announced in 2004, but the project was put on hold in 2010 before being revived a year later.

  Key stumbling blocks were rights-of-way issues, route alignment and its high cost.

  In December 2023, MEED reported that a team of US-based Hill International, Italy’s Italferr and Spain’s Sener had been awarded the contract to provide project management services for the programme.

  If it proceeds, the Landbridge will be one of the largest railway projects ever undertaken in the Middle East – and among the biggest globally.

  

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15123411/main.jpg

  Yasir Iqbal
• 
  Local contractor bids low for $629m Kuwait oil project

  20 November 2025

  Kuwait-based Mechanical Engineering & Contracting Company (MECC) has submitted the lowest bid on a contract to develop oil and gas facilities at the Sabriya and Bahra oil fields.

  The scope of the project is focused on developing a water separation facility next to Gathering Centre 23 (GC-23) and GC-24.

  It also includes developing an injection facility at GC-31.

  The full list of bidders for the project is:

  • Mechanical Engineering & Contracting Company (MECC) – KD193m ($629m)
  • Spetco – KD229m
  • Alghanim International – KD239m

  The tender was issued on 15 December 2024, with an initial bid submission deadline of 16 March 2025.

  The bid deadline was extended more than 10 times before prices were submitted.

  The client on the project is state-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).

  The scope of the project includes:

  • Installation of a high-integrity pressure protection system
  • Installation of chemical injection systems
  • Installation of effluent water transfer pumps
  • Installation of a low-pressure (LP) gas pipeline from the new LP gas knockout drum (KOD) to existing LP separator gas crude accumulator (inside GC-23 & 24)
  • Installation of interconnecting piping, instrumentation, electrical and civil works
  • Installation of a new oil recovery system with pumps, flowmeter and analyser
  • Installation of the substation and its equipment/systems
  • Installation of tie-ins for process and utilities from/to existing GC-30 to new injection facility
  • Installation of sludge collection, treatment and disposal system
  • Associated facilities

  Kuwait is trying to boost project activity in its upstream sector.

  The country’s national oil company, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, aims to increase oil production capacity to 4 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2035.

  In August, Kuwait announced that it was producing 3.2 million b/d.

  Earlier this month, KOC said it was planning to spend KD1.2bn ($3.92bn) on its exploration drilling programme through 2030.

  

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15120909/main.png

  Wil Crisp
• 
  Oman’s Marafiq retenders Duqm desalination plant

  20 November 2025

  Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

  Oman-based Central Utilities Company (Marafiq) has reissued the main contract tender for its planned seawater reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant in Duqm.

  The revised submission deadline is 25 November.

  The project has an estimated budget of $100m and will supply industrial water and support wastewater services in the Duqm Special Economic Zone.

  The scheme involves building a seawater RO plant, an intake system, pre-treatment facilities, pumping stations, metering stations, pipelines and associated infrastructure.

  Marafiq is developing the project in its capacity as the authorised utilities provider for the Duqm Special Economic Zone.

  The company intends to develop a plant with a capacity of 45 million litres a day to serve industrial customers, including a planned hot-briquetted iron (HBI) facility proposed by an international steel manufacturer at Duqm Port. 

  Spain’s Cobra Group and Oman’s Global Chemicals & Maintenance System were previously prequalified to bid for the engineering, procurement and construction contract.

  The main contract was initially tendered in December 2024, with the bid submission deadline in February. 

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15116821/main.jpg

  Mark Dowdall
• 
  Wood Group wins Iraq oil contract

  20 November 2025

  Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

  Aberdeen-based Wood Group has won a contract to deliver project management and engineering services for PetroChina at the West Qurna-1 oil field in southern Iraq, according to a statement from the company.

  Under the terms of the contract, Wood will manage engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects at the field. 

  Located approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Basra, West Qurna-1 holds more than 20 billion barrels of recoverable reserves.

  Ellis Renforth, Wood’s president of operations for the Europe, Africa and Middle East region, said: “This contract award deepens our decade-long partnership at West Qurna-1 and reflects the continued trust placed in Wood to deliver complex energy solutions in Iraq. 

  “We’re proud to combine our global expertise with a strong local workforce to help support Iraq’s energy ambitions.”

  The contract will be delivered by nearly 200 Wood employees based in Iraq and the UAE, the company said.

  On 17 November, in a vote, 88% of Wood Group’s shareholders backed the company’s takeover by Dubai-based Sidara.

  The vote came after months of delay, while Wood struggled to agree its accounts with its auditor.

  The company’s accounts were eventually published on 30 October, showing a pre-tax loss of more than £2bn and evidence that the auditor was still not satisfied with the figures going back several years.

  Wood Group accepted a $292m conditional takeover bid from Sidara in August.

  As of February, Wood Group employed 35,000 people across about 60 countries, many in consulting and engineering roles.

  In the Middle East, the company has project contracts in Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where it has opened its third office in Sharjah.

  

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15122155/main.png

  Wil Crisp
• 
  Local firm wins contract for Kuwait power project

  19 November 2025

  Local firm Alghanim International has won a contract to provide engineering services at the Subiya power and water distillation plant.

  Kuwait’s Central Agency for Public Tenders approved the award following a request from the Ministry of Electricity, Water & Renewable Energy.

  The contract, valued at $286m, covers engineering, supply, installation, operation and maintenance services to convert the 250MW second phase of the plant’s open-cycle gas turbines to combined-cycle gas turbines.

  The upgrade is intended to increase efficiency and provide additional generation capacity during periods of high demand.

  In July, MEED reported that Alghanim had submitted the lowest bid for the tender ahead of local firms Al-Daw Engineering General Trading & Contracting and Al-Zain United General Trading & Contracting.

  In 2024, US-based GE Vernova completed separate upgrades of four GE Vernova 9F.03 class gas turbines at the 2GW Sabiya combined-cycle power plant. Alghanim International acted as GE’s local engineering partner for that work.

  The Subiya power and water distillation plant is the largest power and water plant in Kuwait, with a power generation capacity of 7,046.7MW, accounting for 35% of the country’s installed capacity.

  It has a water desalination capacity of 100 million imperial gallons a day.

  

  https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15116135/main.jpg

  Mark Dowdall