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MEED
April 2007

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  • $500 million bond launch

    Arab Banking Corporation will issue a $500 million bond as part of its $2,500 million euro-medium term note programme. The debt will be issued in dollar-denominated notes with a tenor of 10 years and priced at 85 basis point over Libor (London interbank offered rate). Citigroup and JP Morgan arranged the issue, which Standard & Poor's has assigned a BBB long-term debt rating.

  • : Shifting gear

    When the government's new investment holding company, Mumtalakat, grabbed a 30 per cent stake in Formula 1 team McLaren at the start of 2007, the world took notice of an island that had rarely before strayed onto global radar screens.

  • : World Bank seeks interest in Dead Sea study

    The World Bank is inviting expressions of interest from international companies by 23 May for a feasibility study on the estimated $800 million Red Sea-Dead Sea Conveyor project to save the Dead Sea.

  • Abu Dhabi looks to Zakum to increase crude capacity

    Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (Adma-Opco) is planning a major demothballing project that will increase crude production capacity from the offshore lower Zakum field by 100,000 barrels a day (b/d) to 425,000 b/d.

  • Abu Dhabi outlines plans to improve policymaking

    The government has unveiled a national strategy to improve policymaking in the federation, in an effort to bring public administration into line with world class standards.

  • Abu Dhabi plans hotel

    Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development & Investment Company has partnered with the local Al-Farida Investment Company to build a AED 500 million ($136 million) hotel complex in Abu Dhabi. The Bridgeway at Zayed Sports City involves a 306-room hotel, health club, conference centre and shops. Completion is scheduled for late 2009.

  • Abu Dhabi: Banking on investment

    Securities legislation being drafted in the UAE is set to transform the investment banking sector in the federation. Under new proposals, responsibility for licensing and regulating investment banks will be transferred from the central bank to the Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority (ESCA).

  • Academy deal finalised

    Kuwait Arab Contractors has won a KD 45.5 million ($157 million) contract to build a police academy in the Mubarikiya district. The project involves the construction of a 300,000-square-metre training facility, including accommodation for 1,200 police cadets, sports facilities, firing ranges and a combat village. A US/local joint venture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) with Gulf Consult are the design consultants. (MEED 12:1:07).

  • ADVERTISING: Where the money goes

    In 2006, newspapers stormed ahead of the rest of the kingdom's advertising media. Advertisers spent $750 million of an estimated $978 total million on the kingdom's dailies. However, this 6 per cent rise on the previous year was well below 2005's 39 per cent increase in newspaper advertising. 'A few newspapers have a dominating presence,' says Shariq Faraz, regional analyst at the Pan Arab Research Centre.

  • AGRICULTURE: The high price of Riyadh's self-sufficiency drive

    Large circles of crops, sprinkled across a barren lunar landscape, are some of the oddities that air passengers see when looking down on the kingdom. Some of these circles are even visible from space. They are the result of a bold experiment: to develop agriculture in the country from scratch. The kingdom is now home to a sizeable arable sector and huge dairy and poultry farms, but there is a huge cost to be borne from all this activity: precious water reserves are being tapped, which Riyadh can

  • Aid agencies suspend operations in Darfur

    Several international aid agencies are suspending work in the town of Um Dukhun, in the Darfur region of Sudan, because of attacks on them.The decision, announced on 23 April, is expected to disrupt services to about 100,000 people in the area, near the border with Chad and the Central African Republic. Agencies which have suspended their work include the UK's Oxfam, Save the Children Spain and the US-based Mercy Corps. 'We greatly regret any

  • Airport to expand

    Construction is currently under way on new maintenance facilities for Jordan Aircraft Maintenance Company (Joramco) at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman. Australia's Aircraft Support Industries has the main construction package. The local Arabtech Jardaneh is the construction supervision consultant. The estimated $12 million facility has a total built-up area of 23,000 square metres. Work is scheduled to be completed in June and the new facilities are in line with Joramco's expansion pla

  • Al-Ameera Village deal

    Tameer Holding has signed a deal worth AED 522 million ($142 million) with fellow Sharjah-based firm Al-Rajhi Projects & Construction to build phase one of the Al-Ameera Village project in Ajman. The deal involves 41 residential buildings. When completed, the Al-Ameera Village will include a five-star hotel and shopping mall, as well as residential and business facilities.

  • Alba opens regional office

    Germany's Alba has set up a regional subsidiary, Alba Mena, to boost its involvement in local construction projects. Its services include project development, facilities management, conversions and redevelopments. Alba is involved in projects worth more than Eur 9,000 million ($12,000 million). It is wholly-owned by KG Allgemeine Leasing, a structured asset finance and investment company.

  • Aldar forms joint venture for Abu Dhabi resort

    Local real estate developer Aldar Properties has formed a joint venture with Abu Dhabi-based National Corporation for Tourism & Hotels (NCTH) to develop a resort and residential development on two islands next to the Intercontinental Hotel off the western coast of Abu Dhabi.

  • Al-Futtaim plans project

    Local property developer Al-Futtaim Real Estate has unveiled a AED 1,000 million ($272 million) project at Dubai Silicon Oasis. The development will cover 62,820 square metres and be built in three phases. It will include residential apartment blocks and serviced apartments.

  • Al-Habtoor to build resort

    The local Al-Habtoor Engineering Enterprises has been awarded the AED 1,000 million ($272 million) main construction contract on the Kempinski Palm Jumeirah Residences and Hotel. Located on the crescent of the Palm Jumeirah, the project will cover 100,000 square metres and comprises two seven-storey buildings. Local developer Emerald Palace Group is the client (MEED 17:11:06).

  • Al-Jaber bids low for interchange

    The local Al-Jaber Group is the low bidder at AED 754 million ($205 million) for the reconstruction of the Mafraq interchange.

  • Al-Jiza plans residential city

    The local Taameer Jordan has announced plans for a $900 million residential city aimed at meeting the rising demand for low and middle-income housing in the capital.

  • All for one

    Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has left no one in any doubt about what he thinks of the performance of the UAE government.

  • Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for parliament bombing

    A group of Iraqi insurgent movements linked to Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for yesterday's suicide bomb attack within the national parliament building.One member of parliament, Mohammed Awadh from one of the Sunni factions, has been confirmed dead in the attack. The group, calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq, made its claim on an Islamist website. The group's message celebrated that 'A knight from the state of Islam... reached the heart of the G

  • Amec wins consultancy for Abu Dhabi oil programme

    The UK's Amec is understood to have been selected for the project management consultancy contract on the programme to increase Abu Dhabi's onshore oil capacity to 1.8 million barrels a day (b/d) from 1.4 million b/d.

  • Amman signs cooperation deals with Berlin

    Berlin and Amman signed two cooperation agreements on 17 April, worth a total of Eur 27.5 million ($37.3 million).The agreements cover projects in the water sector and provide support to the kingdom's financial management reform programme. Under the first agreement, Eur 26.5 million ($35.9 million) in soft loans will be allocated to the water sector to improve water supply and management in the northern and central governorates and the Greater Amman Municipality.

  • Amman to split nuclear energy industry

    The Jordanian parliament has approved an overhaul of the country's nuclear energy industry, splitting it into two bodies.

  • Amnesty warns of Egyptian anti-terror law impact

    Human rights group Amnesty International has issued a report claiming Egyptian authorities are committing systematic abuses of human rights in the name of national security.Amnesty says a planned new anti-terrorism law, expected to be introduced following last month's controversial amendments to the constitution, could pave the way for further abuses.'The Egyptian authorities must come clean and disclose the number, names, nationality and current whereabouts

  • Analysis: Moscow ties show Cairo's shifting focus

    Cairo signed a memorandum of understanding on 10 April with Moscow for a Russian industrial zone that, in the next five years, is expected to attract investments worth $550 million and generate an estimated $700 million in exports. The agreement marks a return to the close relationship between the two countries of past decades.

  • Arabtec begins tower work

    The local Arabtec Construction has started work on a twin tower development at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

  • Aramco awards two pipeline contracts

    The local Faysal M Qahtani Sons Company (FMQ) and Russia's Stroytransgaz have been awarded two contracts, totalling more than $450 million, for the construction of two major pipelines. The client on both schemes is Saudi Aramco.

  • Aramco briefs contractors on Yanbu export refinery

    The local/US joint venture of Saudi Aramco and ConocoPhillips has invited at least 10 international contractors to attend meetings in London from 2-4 May to outline the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) deal for its multi-billion-dollar Yanbu export refinery.

  • Aramco enlists Petrobras for heavy oil work

    Brazilian oil giant Petrobras is to launch a downstream project with state oil company Saudi Aramco this year to tackle technological issues around heavy oil and olefin production.About half of the Brazilian producer's 13,000 million barrel reserves are derived from heavy oil and Aramco is looking to harness the firm's expertise as part of plans to target heavy crude oil production of 1.05 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2010 (MEED 8:12:06).Petrobras, which recently embarked on an

  • Aramco reviews processing at offshore Karan gas field

    Saudi Aramco is looking at several different locations to process gas from its offshore Karan gas field, the single largest gas development in the kingdom.

  • Aramco seeks engineers as projects grow

    Saudi Aramco has revealed that its demand for engineers has more than quadrupled in the past five years as the kingdom struggles to keep pace with a raft of mega energy projects.

  • Arfa tender goes to Chinese bid

    A Chinese-led consortium has won the tender to build a Eur 235 million ($315 million) steel factory at Ardakan in Yazd province. The client, Arfa Iron & Steel Company, is expected to officially make the award in late April, paving the way for the two sides to open a letter of credit (MEED 8:12:06).China's Metallurgical Construction Company (MCC) bid in partnership with the local Ghaemreza, a metals specialist based in Isfahan. The project comprises an alloy plant, direct reduction facili

  • Asset quality to weaken at Gulf banks, S&P

    Gulf banks are likely to see weaker asset quality and profitability as a result of the region's stock market correction, according to a report by ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) on 11 April.Although 'Gulf Banks Face Challenges From A Position Of Strength' says the 2006 stock market correction has had a limited effect on the very strong financial performances of the majority of GCC banks, it says the correction has increased the risk profile of the banks' retail loan

  • Atkins designs green tower

    The UK's Atkins is working on the concept design for a low carbon emissions tower at Dubai International Financial Centre, its second major project in the region to incorporate environmentally friendly elements.

  • Award nears for Taweelah smelter package

    Emirates Aluminium is set to award the first major contract on its Taweelah smelter project by early May.Two groups are competing for the engineering, procurement and construction management package to build a 700,000-tonne smelter. US-based Bechtel and Canada's SNC Lavalin are the bidders.The first phase of the $5,000 million smelter is due to be completed in 2010 (MEED 23:3:07).Emirates Aluminium is a joint venture of Dubai Aluminium Company and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala De

  • Ayla reduces shortlist to 10for $700m Oasis contract

    The local Ayla Oasis Development Company has reduced the number of companies shortlisted to 10 from 17 for the phase 1 infrastructure package on the estimated $700 million Ayla Oasis project in the Gulf of Aqaba.

  • Baghdad urges Iran to attend summit

    Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has told Iran that its presence is crucial at next week's summit on Iraq, to be held in Egypt.Iran has still not confirmed whether it will attend the summit, scheduled for 3-4 May at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said on 25 April that Tehran had yet to decide. Iran has indicated that it will only attend if the US gives an indication that it was prepared

  • Bahrain prepares for military threats

    Bahrain is making preparations for any escalation in the standoff between the US and Iran over Tehran's nuclear energy programme.Bahrain's interior minister Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa has said that the kingdom has applied for membership of the International Atomic Energy Agency so that it will receive early warning of potential nuclear threats. Sheik Rashed also said the ministry is making plans for stockpiling goods and strategic supplies.The US

  • BANKING & FINANCE: Bank takes centre stage

    The promised arrival of the world's largest Islamic bank in Manama will return the spotlight to Bahrain as the global centre for sharia-compliant banking and finance. The proposed $100,000 million bank will trounce competition from Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and now London, and establish Bahrain as the regional centre for Islamic finance.

  • BANKING: Modernising the banks

    Egypt's banking sector has gone through a wholesale shake-up in the past three years. In 2004, a third of the country's 57 banks were insolvent, using inefficient processes with huge non-performing loans (NPLs) to government institutions paralysing the system. An acute shortage of dollars had led to the growth of a parallel market for currency exchange, with an estimated 5 million dealers.

  • Banks profits set to grow throughout 2007

    UAE banks are set to maintain strong earnings growth throughout 2007, according to a new report by Fitch Ratings. However, the increasing size of loan books could cause some deterioration in the asset quality over the longer term.The ratings agency adds that potential volatility in the real estate sector and equity markets could cause 'systemic problems for the UAE banking sector', with profits falling among those banks directly exposed.The report says asset

  • Bedouins stage protest at Israeli border

    More than 1,000 Bedouins held an anti-government demonstration on 26 April near the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, in protest at the death of two Bedouins a day earlier. Media reports said the two men were killed in an exchange of fire with the Egyptian police after they failed to pull their vehicle over at a checkpoint. The police have said they will investigate the incident. The demonstrators accused the government of mistreatment and demanded economic

  • Beirut split over UN role in Hariri tribunal

    Political divisions widened in Beirut on 5 April over efforts to bring the suspects in the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri to trial, as the UN Security Council met to discuss the issue.Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri has sent a petition to the UN which called for a tribunal to try the suspects. Parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri described Hariri's move as a power grab, while Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora denied that the submission of th

  • Bejaia port attracts further investment

    Bejaia Mediterranean Terminal (BMT), a joint venture of the local Entreprise Portuaire de Bejaia (EPB) and Singapore's Portek International, has agreed to invest a further $20.2 million in the development of a container port at Bejaia.BMT operates the port's two container berths under a 20-year concession signed in April 2006. EPB has a 51 per cent share in the port, with Portek holding the remaining 49 per cent.The terminal, which has capacity of about 200,

  • Bemco appoints chief executive for development

    Jeddah-based Arabian Bemco has made the first major management appointment for its new joint venture, United Infrastructure Development Company (UIDC), which is due to be launched later in April.

  • Bidding continues in power sector

    The pace of power development continues unabated in the kingdom, after the submission of technical bids for the construction of two power plants.

  • Bidding opens on Yanbu joint venture

    The local/US joint venture of Saudi Aramco and ConocoPhillips has formally launched the bidding process for its multi-billion-dollar Yanbu export refinery by inviting international contractors to submit expressions of interest in the project.

  • Bids in for Pakistan Oil

    A raft of Middle East companies have been selected to bid for the $500 million privatisation of Pakistan State Oil (PSO). Seven companies have been shortlisted to bid for the 51 per cent stake in PSO, including Oman Oil Marketing, the UAE's Abu Dhabi Group and Al Ghurair Investment, Saudi-based Aljomaih Holding Company and Kuwait's Noor Financial Investment Company. PSO is the largest oil marketing company in Pakistan at present.

  • Bids invited for power plant

    Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has tendered another power plant project, inviting contractors to submit bids by 2 June for an electricity generating facility at Rabigh on the Red Sea coast.

  • Bomb attacks kill 30 in Algiers

    At least 30 people were killed in two bomb attacks in Algiers on 11 April, raising fears in the country of a return to the instability of the civil war era.According to the official APS news agency one of the bombs destroyed part of the façade of the prime minister's building in the centre of the capital while a second bomb hit Bab Ezzouar on the city's eastern outskirts. Residents in Algiers have said it was the first time since the 1990s that a bomb targeted the cap

  • Bomb attacks will not halt elections, says Belkhadem

    Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem says parliamentary polls will go ahead in May as planned despite bombings in the capital on 11 April that left 33 people dead and injured 222. Belkhaden said the two bomb attacks were a deliberate provocation before the elections, adding that those who resort to violence exclude themselves from the political process. A person claiming to be a spokesman for al-Qaeda said it organised the bombings but there has been

  • Boost in Sabic profits

    Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) has reported a 46 per cent rise in first-quarter profits to $1.6 million, up from $1.1 million for the same period in 2006. The figures have surpassed analysts' expectations. The average forecast was for a 34 per cent increase in profits. The company says that higher output combined with the rising prices of steel, polymers and fertilisers contributed to the increase.

  • Borouge awards contracts for plant in Ruwais

    Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge) has awarded the polyolefins, and offsites and utilities packages on the multi-billion-dollar expansion of its Ruwais petrochemicals complex.

  • Borouge enters melamine market

    Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge) announced plans on 10 April to enter into the melamine market by taking over the Ruwais melamine plant, originally planned as a joint venture of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Austria's AMI Agrolinz Melamine International.

  • Borouge enters the melamine market

    ~Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge)~ announced on 10 April plans to enter into the melamine market by taking over the Ruwais melamine plant originally planned by a joint venture of ~Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc)~ and ~AMI Agrolinz Melamine International~. The melamine plant will have a capacity of 80,000 tonnes a year. It will use urea feedstock supplied from the ~Ruwais Fertiliser Industries (Fertil)~ expansion also in Ruwais. Melamine production technology wil

  • Bourj Hammoud prequalification process begins

    The Council for Development & Reconstruction has invited companies to prequalify for the construction of the Bourj Hammoud wastewater treatment plant at Dora, in the Greater Beirut area.

  • BP profits take a dive

    Oil and gas giant BP has recorded a 17 per cent drop in first-quarter net profit after a fall in prices and production offset the gains from better refining margins.The firm's replacement cost net profit, which strips out the impact of changes in the value of fuel inventories, dropped to $4,361 million in the three months to March, from $5,265 million for the first quarter of 2006.First-quarter oil production fell 3 per cent to 3.91 million barrels of oil eq

  • Cairo reviews bids for Borg el-Arab airport upgrade

    Egyptian Holding Company for Airports & Air Navigation is evaluating technical proposals from four international consortiums for the contract to carry out the modernisation of the Borg el-Arab airport.

  • Cairo reviews home financing regulations

    Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin is to introduce legislation requiring real estate developers to delegate the financing of homes that they sell to banks or mortgage financing companies and not to extend credit directly.

  • Central bank claims currency speculation at an end

    The governor of the Central Bank of the UAE has said that revaluation of the dirham is a 'dead issue'.In addition to ruling out a revaluation of the dirham, Sultan Nasser al Suweidi said that he had assurances from Kuwait that it would continue with the dollar peg.'They [Kuwait] will stay within their fluctuation band.' Suweidi added: 'Kuwait will stick with all the other Gulf countries; we have assurances from the governor.'Kuwait changed fro

  • China, Switzerland to talk to Ramallah

    China and Switzerland have both said they will deal with the new Palestinian unity government, Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti announced on 16 April.The announcement followed a recent meeting between envoys from the two countries and the independent Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Ziad Abu Amr.China's Middle East envoy Sun Bigan is currently visiting the region for talks. He is expected to hold discussions with Israeli and Palestinian

  • Chinese companies sign up for Jizan aluminium project

    Locally-based Western Way for Industrial Development Company (WWIDC) has signed agreements with two Chinese companies to develop its $5,000 million grassroots aluminium complex at Jizan Economic City (JEC).

  • Circle signs deal with Exxoil over two concessions

    London-listed Circle Oil has signed an agreement with the local Exxoil for two oil and gas concessions.The agreements cover a 36 per cent interest in the Grombalia permit in the north and a 23 per cent interest in the Ras Mamour permit in the south. In both cases, Circle will form partnerships with Exxoil and state oil company Entreprise Tunisienne d'Activites Petrolieres.The work programme on the Grombalia permit calls for the acquisition of 2D seismic data

  • CME considers sharia

    The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is considering developing sharia-compliant futures and options products. 'If there is cash looking to be invested in a product, we look at it,' says Arman Falsafi, CME managing director for Europe, Middle East & Asia. Banks account for the majority of trading on the CME from the region, which is largely done in interest rate futures.

  • Commercial Bank of Kuwait seeks buyer

    Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) is considering offers to sell up to 100 per cent of the bank. CBK is talking to other regional banks and local investment companies who are interested in taking a share and hopes to finalise a deal in May.The bank is understood to prefer partnering with a regional bank, which would help further its overseas expansion plans. Rumours that HSBC and Citibank are interested in buying a stake in CBK are understood to be unfounded.'The preference is for a

  • Consortia bid for pigment plant

    Five consortia are bidding for a Kahnuj titanium dioxide pigment complex planned by Iran Mines & Mineral Industries Development & Renovation Organisation (Imidro).A bid deadline of 21 April has been extended to 15 May and all three packages must now be included in a single bid (MEED 26:1:06).Each consortium is led by a local company, with foreign partners supplying the technology and equipment for the slag processing, beneficiation and pigment processing units.Potential b

  • Construction to start on highway project

    Work is set to start on the estimated Eur 120 million ($163 million), 65.5-kilometre-long highway from Beirut to Masnaa, on the eastern border with Syria.Turkey's STFA has the construction contract for the 10.5-kilometre Taanayel to Masnaa section. The local Khatib & Alami is the construction supervision consultant. The European Investment Bank is providing funding, and construction is expected to take two years.The client for the highway, the Council for Development & Reconstruc

  • CONSTRUCTION: Focus switches to developing resources

    The production problems that have halved the output of a cement factory in Saudi Arabia's eastern provinceare threatening to delay many of the kingdom's construction projects. 'It is causing serious problems,' says a local contractor. 'And I am not complaining about prices - there just is not enough cement to go round. The situation is improving, but deliveries are only expected to be at about 65 per cent to 80 per cent of their normal levels for the next five to six weeks.'

  • Consultants snub contracts

    Plans to expand Kuwait International Airport have hit a hurdle after no bids were received for one of the two main design consultancy contracts on offer.

  • Consultants sought for three hotel projects

    Firms have been invited by the Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran) to bid for consultancy packages on three hotel projects in Duqm and Ras al-Hamra.At Duqm, bids have been invited by 19 May for a contract covering environmental consultancy services, and by 21 May for project management. The 200-bed hotel will meet demand from the planned port at Duqm. The local office of KEO International Consultants is the design consultant (MEED 18:8:06).Firms have also been invited to sub

  • CONTRACTING: Last year's model

    It was held up as the panacea to the Gulf's booming oil and gas projects markets. But two years after its introduction into the region, the convertible lump sum turnkey (LSTK) contracting model is not delivering all it promised. While a handful of contracts have progressed smoothly, several others have encountered difficulties in conversion, raising serious questions about whether the much-acclaimed model has a long-term future.

  • Contractors bid for refinery

    International contractors submitted prequalification applications on 31 March for the contract to install a diesel hydrotreater (DHT) unit at the Ras Tanura refinery.

  • Contracts March 2007

  • Costs force Total rethink on Iran

    French energy giant Total has revealed it may delay or possibly cancel its gas project in Iran because of rampant cost inflation and geo-political concerns.

  • Daelim bids low for effluent water disposal upgrade

    South Korea's Daelim Industrial Company is the lowest bidder at KD 51.7 million ($178 million) for the contract to upgrade effluent water disposal facilities at oil fields in the south-east.Daelim's bid is about 8 per cent lower than the only other bid of KD 55.9 million ($193 million), submitted by UAE-based Petrofac International. The client, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), is expected to take about four months to evaluate the bids before making an award.The lump-sum engineering, pro

  • Daelim building LNG tank farm

    South Korea's Daelim Industrial Company is building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) tank farm at Tombak on the Hormuzgan coast.

  • Dalma wins drilling deal

    Abu-Dhabi based Dalma Energy has been awarded a one-year $23 million drilling contract in Algeria by Spain's Repsol YPF, marking its first foray into Africa. Dalma, acquired by Aabar Petroleum Investments Company in July 2005, says drilling operations are expected to begin in June 2007, with the deployment of two deep-drilling land rigs. The deal includes an option of an $11 million six-month extension.

  • Dana Gas signs $400m reserve review

    Sharjah's Dana Gas has signed a $400 million agreement with Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to evaluate the region's gas reserves.

  • Dar al-Handasah set to manage airport expansion

    Beirut-based Dar al-Handasah (Shair & Partners) has won the project management services contract covering the expansion of Bahrain International Airport. The client is the Works & Housing Ministry.

  • Dead Sea spa resort receives approval

    Construction is to begin in the second half of the year on a $600 million tourist spa development on the Dead Sea, following formal approval by local authorities.

  • Deadline passes for Zakum field contract

    Expressions of interest were submitted on 17 April for conceptual studies and design of the debottlenecking and additional facilities on the offshore Upper Zakum field and Zirku island.

  • Deal with Mexico signed

    The UAE has signed an open skies agreement with Mexico that will allow unlimited flights between the two countries. The memorandum of understanding gives Emirates, Etihad Airlines, Air Arabia and RAK Airways the ability to fly any aircraft, for either passenger or cargo purposes, between the UAE and Mexico. A similar deal with India was signed in March.

  • Deutsch plans derivatives

    Deutsche Bank will launch three new derivatives products based on regional stocks. The three products will offer call options and discounts on shares listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market, the Doha Securities Market and a basket of shares across the region. The products will be traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

  • Dodsal wins $1bn Qarn Alam steam deal

    Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has selected Dubai-based Dodsal for the $1,000 million-plus Qarn Alam steam injection contract.

  • Doha signs insurance cooperation agreement with US state

    Doha has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Insurance for the US state of Delaware to co-operate on the regulation of insurance firms that operate in both regions.The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority said the move was the first in a number of similar relationships that would announced in the future.Philip Thorpe, chairman and chief executive of the regulatory authority said that the QFC had received a number of expressions

  • Dolphin starts pipeline tender

    The local Dolphin Energy has invited international and local contractors to submit prequalification applications by 10 May for the tender to design and build the new Taweelah-Fujairah gas pipeline.

  • Dow moves on Ras Tanura

    The US' Dow Chemical Company and Saudi Aramco look set to announce an agreement to develop the giant Ras Tanura refinery upgrade and integrated petrochemicals complex following the issue of the project's first major tender.

  • Dow signs up for Ras Lanuf plant

    The National Oil Corporation and the US' Dow Chemical Company on 19 April announced the establishment of a joint venture to operate and expand the Ras Lanuf petrochemicals complex. Dow is the first international chemical company to participate in Libya's petrochemicals industry.'We are very enthusiastic about the opportunity to participate in this project with NOC and work together to invest in this dynamic part of the world,' said Andrew Liveris, chairman a

  • Dubai bank merger set to spark sector consolidation

    Bankers in Abu Dhabi are anticipating a wave of bank mergers following the announcement that Dubai-based Emirates Bank International and National Bank of Dubai will merge, says National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) chief executive officer Michael Tomalin.NBAD will no longer be the largest bank in the UAE once the merger of the Dubai banks has taken place.'The merger of these two banks is going to cause people at a high level to think about consolidation [in Abu Dhabi],' says Tomalin. 'It mov

  • Dubai Bank offers Islamic credit card

    Dubai Bank has launched a sharia-compliant credit card just months after selling off its old credit card portfolio to a unit of Dubai Holding.

  • Dubai invites hotels bids

    Prequalified companies have been invited to bid by 12 May for the Conrad hotel tower project in Dubai. The prequalifiers include Alec, Al-Habtoor Engineering Enterprises, both local, and the local/Lebanese Arabian Construction Company. The project involves the construction of a 50-storey, 400-room hotel (MEED 3:11:06).

  • Dubai Islamic Bank buys land

    Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) is to expand its operations in Egypt, where it is planning to buy and develop more land.Through its local subsidiary, Al-Tanmia Real Estate Investment, the bank already owns and manages residential and commercial property in the country. It is not known whether the increase in activity will be done by the same arm.'Real estate in Egypt is improving,' says Ayman Adel Kamal, DIB's executive vice-president. 'There has been a 30-40 per cent price rise in the

  • Dubai office rents expected to fall

    Office rents in Dubai are expected to fall as supply increases with the completion of more commercial buildings, according to research from Colliers International.The real estate firm says the emirate has more than 2.5 million square metres of office space under construction - nearly double the existing central business district inventory of 1.47 million square metres.'To put that in perspective, it is approximately the same amount of office space as Geneva,

  • Dubai tackles congestion

    Dubai's Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has received bids for the upgrade of Mirdif interchange and issued tenders for a new junction on Sheikh Zayed road, as it continues to deal with chronic traffic congestion.The local Wade Adams Contracting is the low bidder with a price of AED 235 million ($64 million) for Mirdif. The other bidders are Turkey's Yuksel, Japan's Shimizu, and Afcons and Emirates Road Contracting, both local.The interchange will improve access to the growing

  • Dubai to clamp down on pirated software

    Dubai's government is to strengthen intellectual property protection in the emirate, in a bid to stamp out the trade in counterfeit goods such as software and DVDs.Mohammad Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz, undersecretary of planning in the Ministry of Economy, said the ministry would be working with global private sector bodies such as the Trade Mark Owners Council (TMOC) to ensure that intellectual property rights are respected.He added that the government was also co

  • East Port Said upgrade tender to be reissued

    The Port Said Port Authority (PSPA) will reissue the tender for the contract to revise the masterplan for the upgrade of the 35-square-kilometre East Port Said Port on 15 April.

  • ECONOMY: Weakness hides strength

    Opec's decision to cut oil production from November 2006, together with the softening oil price, will contribute to Saudi Arabia's headline figures showing a slowing economy in 2007 and 2008. But this masks the increasing development of the non-oil sector.

  • EDUCATION: Re-educating the educators

    Education remains a key battleground in the tussle between reformist and conservative elements within Saudi Arabia’s ruling classes.

  • Egypt 'offended' by accusations of sytematic human rights abuses

    Cairo has rejected a report by Amnesty International that accuses it of the systematic torture of prisoners. The Foreign Ministry said Cairo was offended by the report which was inaccurate and unfair. The report claimed that torture was pervasive in Egypt's police stations and prisons. It also said Egypt has become an international centre for interrogation and torture on behalf of other states as part of the "war on terror".

  • EGYPT: An exceptional Case

    The Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange (Case) has remained resilient in the face of the regional downturn over the past 18 months that has seen many Gulf stock markets lose more than half their value. The bourse was one of the few Arab exchanges to end 2006 with a growth in activity.

  • EGYPT: Cairo seeks fresh fields

    Interest in Egyptian crude oil seems to have been diminishing in recent years, with international oil companies (IOCs) eyeing gas exploration and the potentially juicy profits of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production.

  • Eight prequalify for Riyadh water

    The Ministry of Electricity & Water and the National Water Company have issued requests for proposals to eight prequalified international groups for the contract to manage Riyadh's water network.

  • Election results confirm Baath party power

    The ruling Baath party has won an unsurprising victory in Syria's parliamentary elections. Two-thirds of the seats in parliament are permanently reserved for Baathists.Independent candidates can fill the remaining seats, but must be vetted by the government.The opposition boycotted the election. Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majeed described the vote as democratic and said turnout was 56 per cent.A White House statement

  • Emaar moves on Dead Sea development

    Dubai-based Emaar Properties is moving ahead on its $500 million flagship mixed-use Samarah development on the Dead Sea.

  • Emir reshuffles cabinet ministers

    Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani reshuffled the Council of Ministers (cabinet) on 3 April, appointing Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Jaber al-Thani as the new prime minister alongside his existing position.Of the other main positions, Abdulla bin Hamad al-Attiyah retains the strategically vital deputy prime minister and energy & industry portfolios, while Yousef Hussein Kamal keeps the finance and economy and trade posts.It is unclear what has happened to

  • Emirates profits up 20 per cent

    Dubai-based carrier Emirates has posted a 20.2 per cent increase in second-half profits and says it may buy more A380 super jumbos from Europe's Airbus.Net profit in the six months to 31 March rose to $518 million from $430 million for the same period in the previous year.The airline is also close to finalising a compensation deal with Airbus for the delayed delivery of its A380 and may buy more of the aircraft. 'We are very close to completin

  • Energy firms sign power purchase agreement

    The power purchase agreement has been signed for the 2,000-MW Mesaieed independent power project, some six months after the key project agreements were initialled.

  • Engineer arrested on nuclear spying charge

    An Egyptian engineer from the country's nuclear energy agency has been arrested for allegedly spying for Israel.State security prosecutor Hisham Badawi announced the Egyptian national had taken reports from his workplace with the aim of exchanging them for money, while two foreigners were wanted in connection with the case but remained at large.He identified the Egyptian engineer as Mohammed Sayed Saber and said he was arrested on 18 February but that news o

  • ENVIRONMENT: Green shoots

    The Gulf is bracing itself for more bad news. On 6 April the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release the second part of its Climate Change 2007 report and the findings are expected to be an uncomfortable read for the region's governments. The survey will assess the impact of climate change on different countries and regions around the world, including the Middle East.

  • EQUITY MARKETS: Making sense of irrational behaviour

    That Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank's (ADIB) recent offer for Egypt's National Bank for Development (NBD) was one-third below the value of NBD's trading price on the day of the offer suggests retail investors still have too much influence on the Middle East's bourses. The irrational exuberance of inexperienced small investors has been widely cited as the major factor in the collapse of the region's stockmarkets over the past two years.

  • EU to hold fresh talks with Tehran

    Iran and the EU are to hold direct talks for the first time since the UN Security Council imposed stricter sanctions on the Islamic Republic in March.EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani will meet on 25 April to discuss the possible resumption of formal talks on Tehran's nuclear programme. The Iranian student news agency Isna quoted Larijani as saying: ''While Iran keeps its obvious right in developing a peaceful

  • European Parliament upgrades Islamic Development Bank

    The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has been added to the European Parliament's list of multilateral development banks that their risk weights are equivalent to 0 per cent.The decision, welcomed by IDB president Ahmad Mohammed Ali, comes into force from 12 April and will enable the bank to borrow on EU markets at minimum rates, particularly for sukuks and other Islamic financial products.The parliament's decision places the IDB alongside 13 other multilateral

  • Europe's Basell to provide technology for Qapco plant

    Europe's Basell has been selected to provide its proprietary technology for the polyethylene plant planned by Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco).Under the terms of the contract, Basell will licence its Lupotech T technology forthe 250,000-tonne-a-year (t/y) low-density polyethylene unit at Mesaieed.The firm beat competition from Italy's Polymeri Europe to win the contract (MEED 8:9:06).The new polyethylene unit will take advantage of surplus ethylene at Mesaieed.

  • Evolvence aims for real estate listing in London

    Dubai-based Evolvence Capital will list a real estate investment company on London's Alternative Investment Market (Aim) in June.Evolvence aims to raise $250 million through the listing, which it will invest in the secondary market for US real estate investments. The new company will be Evolvence's second listing on the exchange for start-ups after the $65 million flotation of Evolvence India Holdings in March.'We are comfortable with Aim,' says Khaled al-Muhairy, chief executive

  • Federal government unveils future strategy

    The government has unveiled its long-term political and economic strategy for the federation, covering policies for key sectors including social and economic development, justice and infrastructure.The strategy was announced in Abu Dhabi on 17 April by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. It focuses on a number of main principles, including maintaining co-operation between federal and local authorities; revitalizing

  • Fertiliser plant receives bids

    At least three groups submitted technical bids by the 1 April deadline for the contract to build the power and desalination plants serving the Ras al-Zour fertiliser complex, planned by Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden).

  • Fighting ideas with ideas

    Abu Suleiman is an unassuming 33-year-old Saudi. Recently married, he works as a financial adviser for a stockbroker in Riyadh. A model citizen, there is nothing in his modest demeanour to hint at the extraordinary road his life has taken.

  • Final bids in for $10bn Abu Dhabi sour gas project

    Final bids have been submitted by the bulk of the world's oil majors for the $10,000 million Abu Dhabi sour gas project.

  • Financial services shake up

    Securities legislation being drafted will transfer responsibility for licensing and regulating investment banking institutions from the Central Bank of the UAE to the Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority (Esca). A draft of the new law is awaiting approval.The legislation gives Esca the power to monitor investment advisers and other investment banking activity, including underwriting, custody, asset management and funds. The cabinet agreed in January to give Esca responsibility for

  • Firms invited to prequalify for steel plant

    A new $100 million steel plant is being planned for south-east Iran. Iran Alloy Steel Company (Iasco) has invited companies to prequalify for the engineering, procurement and construction contract to build the facility, which will be situated in Yazd, in the centre of the country.

  • Firms shortlisted for advisory roles

    The Council for Development and Reconstruction has shortlisted consultants for three contracts to advise the state-run Electricite du Liban (EdL), the Energy & Water Ministry and the government on the restructuring of the country's power sector.

  • Firms submit bids for Karan gas field

    Five international contractors and consultancy firms are understood to have submitted bids on 3 April for the joint front-end engineering and design and project management consultancy contract on the onshore portion of the Karan gas field development. The client is Saudi Aramco.

  • Fitch warns of volatility threat to banking sector

    Credit ratings agency Fitch has warned that the region's volatile stock markets and property sector pose a risk to the otherwise positive trends improving the profitability of the local banking sector.

  • Food prices drive inflation

    Rising food prices are pushing up inflation across the region, according to economists, with governments having few options for effectively tackling the problem.'It is becoming a Gulf-wide problem,' says Simon Williams, an HSBC economist. 'There are growing pains on the supply side as economies adjust to new demand, and specific issues around food prices.'In Saudi Arabia, inflation will rise to 5 per cent in 2007, from 2 per cent in 2006, says Brad Bourland, chief economist at th

  • Free zone project invites bids

    Companies have been invited to submit bids by 3 May for the main construction package on a convention complex at Jebel Ali free zone alongside Shaikh Zayed road.

  • French buy web services company

    Jordan Telecom, a subsidiary of France Telecom, has acquired a 51 per cent stake in the local Lightspeed Communications. The acquisition is in line with the French company's strategy to expand in the region. France Telecom already has a presence in Jordan and Egypt and has 12 million subscribers across the two markets. Lightspeed specialises in internet services such as online video, video on demand and client database protection and security.

  • Fresh trust laws draw fire

    The Central Bank of Bahrain has set new capital requirements for investment trusts as part of a drive to establish them in the country and to attempt to stop money moving abroad.Mohammed Ayman al-Tajer, director of financial institutions supervision at the Central Bank says: 'The establishment of a trust will considerably broaden the available options for the transfer of assets, as well as for the development of more innovative products and investment solutions.'However, Graham N

  • Gas exporters consider gas Opec

  • Gasco invites technical bids for Ruwais

    Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Company (Gasco) has invited seven companies to submit technical bids by June for the $250 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract on the 225-kilometre-long Ruwais gas pipeline network.

  • Gates to visit Israel over Saudi arms deal

    US Secretary of Defence, Robert Gates, will fly to Tel Aviv next week in an effort to garner support for the sale of advanced American-made weapons to Saudi Arabia.As part of the visit, Gates will meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, defence minister Amir Peretz and foreign minister Tzipi Livni. The sides are expected to discuss US military aid to Israel and regional threats to both nations, though discussions are expected to focus on the recent halt to a U

  • Gates to visit Israel over Saudi arms deal

  • Gates to visit Israel over Saudi arms deal

  • GCC bank ratings on hold after Israeli downgrades

    GCC banks are likely to avoid fluctuations in their credit ratings from Moody's Investors Service when the new ratings are released on 24 April, despite a raft of Israeli banks being downgraded because of problems with the firm's new rating system.

  • Getting into debt

    The initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Qatar's newest bank, Al-Khaliji, stirs memories of the IPO boom of 2005, when a seemingly endless stream of cash-hungry companies, often greenfield projects, came to the region's capital markets for funding. And the success of the Al-Khaliji offering will inevitably be judged against the flotation of the newly established Al-Rayyan Bank in 2006. That offering, in Qatar, took place as the regional stockmarkets peaked, and sparked a region-wide scramb

  • Ghantoot to build roads

    The local Ghantoot Transport & General Contracting has been awarded the estimated AED 56 million ($15 million) infrastructure package at Dubai Techno Park. The six-month contract involves rough grading and road works. The design consultant is US-based Parsons International and the supervision consultant is Malaysia's CHSS.

  • Global self-arranges bond

    Global Investment House has self-arranged a KD 45 million ($156 million) bond issue to capitalise on investment opportunities in the region. The investment company has split the issue into a fixed-rate tranche at 7 per cent and a floating rate tranche at Kibor (Kuwait interbank offered rate) plus 1 per cent. Global says it also has the ability to manage the secondary market in its own bonds.

  • Go-ahead given for Deyaar public offering

    Deyaar Development, the real estate subsidiary of Dubai Islamic Bank, has secured approval from the Economy Ministry to launch a AED 3,178 million ($866 million) initial public offering.A total of 3,178 million shares will be issued, representing 55 per cent of the company. The offer price will be AED 1.00 per share. The issue opens on 6 May and will close on 16 May. It will be open to UAE and other GCC nationals.Proceeds from the share sale will be used to

  • Gohar Zamin to self-finance

    Bids were submitted before the Iranian new year in late March for the Gohar Zamin iron ore project. The client, Gohar Zamin Iron Ore Company, is now looking to fund the work itself after failing to attract contractors that could bring finance to the project.But project sources say this could result in a reduction in the scale of the plant (MEED 24:11:06).Most of the bidders were local, say project sources, but an Indian company, believed to be Essar Steel, and a Chinese company b

  • Gulf Air cuts foreign staff

    Local staff are expected to avoid the worst of the cuts at Gulf Air, as the troubled airline axes 25 per cent of its workforce in the coming months in a restructuring drive.

  • Gulf Air restructures

    Gulf Air has launched a BD 310 million ($825 million) restructuring programme. The national carrier for Bahrain and Oman announced on 18 April that it is losing more than $1 million a day. Accumulated losses amount to BD 254 million ($675 million). The company will invest in aircraft and ground facilities to improve services with better punctuality and lower connection times. It will move to an all-Airbus fleet and cut it to 28 from 34 aircraft.

  • Gulf banks are starting to emerge from the shadows

    World oil has peaked and Brent blend crude will average around $60 a barrel in 2007, compared with almost $65 a barrel last year. Iran and other potential flashpoints could produce spikes, but the consensus is prices will fall to about $53 a barrel in 2010.

  • Gulf car sales rise for General Motors

    The US' General Motors (GM) has announced a 16 per cent rise in car sales in the Middle East in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2006. The first three months of 2007 saw the company sell 30,679 units in the region, a record for the company's first quarter sales in the region. The company says the growth was consistent across almost all markets driven in particular by Saudi Arabia, which traditionally accounts for about 60 per cent

  • Gulf set for insurance boom

    The Middle East insurance market has the potential to more than quadruple in size to $20,000 million based on world average premiums, a report by rating's agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) says.

  • Halliburton exits Iran

    The US' Halliburton says it has completed its contractual commitments in Iran and is no longer conducting any business in the Islamic republic. Halliburton announced in January 2005 that it was shutting down its Iran operations, but would honour existing 'contractual commitments' until they were fulfilled. Its activities in Iran were managed by non-US employees.

  • Hamas rocket attack on Israel

    The armed wing of the Islamic militant group Hamas declared an end to a five-month-old Gaza ceasefire on 24 April by firing rockets into Israel.The Hamas-led Palestinian government later called for the truce to be restored.Hamas said it carried out the rocket attack in response to the killing of nine Palestinians in late April. Tel Aviv issued no official response to the attack which occurred as Israel celebrated its independence day.'There is

  • Haniya rejects interior minister's resignation

    Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has rejected the resignation of Interior Minister Hani al-Qawasmi and asked him to remain in his post.Al-Qawasmi was appointed as an independent member of the new unity government, which was formed in March, to oversee the Palestinian security forces.However, Palestinian Authority President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas then appointed Mohammed Dahlan as national security ad

  • HEAVY OIL: Oil firms steam ahead

    Work is now under way in the Divided Zone for the first pilot project to extract heavy oil from under the Gulf.

  • HEDGE FUNDS: Broadening the market

    Fund activity in Bahrain is set to broaden under collective investment regulations to be issued by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) by the end of April. The rules aim to create a category of exempt funds and encourage the take-up of alternative investment vehicles, including hedge funds, in the kingdom.

  • Hotel deal to be awarded

    Beirut-based United Real Estate Company, a subsidiary of Kuwait Projects Company (Kipco), is expected to award the contract for the main infrastructure package for the estimated $50 million, five-star hotel in the Raouche district of Beirut by the end of April. The new hotel will be built on a 50,000-square-metre plot and will be 20 storeys high with 272 rooms. The project is expected to be completed by 2008. At least eight regional contractors have expressed interest.

  • IMF loan carries fiscal reform conditions

    The IMF has approved a $77 million, three-to-five-year loan to Beirut as part of its commitments under the Paris III agreement in late January.

  • India's Punj Lloyd wins $126m pipeline package

    India's Punj Lloyd has won the $126 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the development of a new pipeline in the sultanate.The scope of works covers the construction of a 40-kilometre-long, 24-inch-diameter pipeline from Murayrat to Barka, and a 252-kilometre-long, 32-inch pipeline from Saih Rawl to the Mukhaizna loopline. The construction of a compression station at Nimr will also be considered later this year.The project is due to be completed b

  • Inflation fears grow as dollar weakens

    Inflation concerns in the GCC are likely to increase as the dollar continues to weaken against international currencies, according to economists.

  • Injaz Mena exits investments to raise a total of $50m

    Abu Dhabi-based Injaz Mena is planning to exit up to five of its investments, which will each return more than $10 million to the firm.The company will sell its 12 per cent stake in a German medical technology development company Lifebridge Medizintechnik by the end of 2007. Lifebridge was established by a team of medical engineers and heart surgeons and has developed a transportable heart-lung machine.Injaz Mena has transacted 18 private equity and real estate deals in the past

  • INSURANCE: Patience needed before profits can be made

    Patience is a commodity much in demand in Saudi Arabia. It is also a necessity for insurance companies planning to establish legitimate operations in the kingdom. The insurance sector, historically an unlicensed free-for-all, only saw the first attempt at regulation in 2003, with the issue of a Royal Decree on the Control of Co-operative Insurance Companies.

  • INTERNATIONAL CRISIS: A rising tide of tension

    If one lesson can be learned from Iran's 12-day detention of 15 UK marines and sailors, it is this: Western pressure will not make Iran back down but will raise the stakes. The implications for other disputes are disquieting.

  • Iran and EU move closer on nuclear talks

    Iran and the European Union said they were nearing a united view during talks on 25 April, with new ideas raised on how to resolve a standoff over Tehran's atomic programme.EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana met top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani in Ankara to see if Iran could be persuaded to stop uranium enrichment in exchange for negotiations about economic incentives.'In some areas we are approaching a united view. That is to say that the best

  • Iran warns against potential attacks

    Iran's army will 'cut off the hand' of any attacker and is ready to fulfil its defensive duties, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at an military parade on 18 April.'Some bullying powers imagined that by implementing sanctions they would weaken our army. Today our army is self-sufficient and secures its needs in general,' Ahmadinejad said in a speech in Tehran marking National Army Day.The UN Security Council has set a deadline of late May for Iran

  • IRAN: Disunity damages leadership ambitions

    It is no secret that Iran sees itself as a leader of the Middle East and Muslim world. When President Ahmadinejad first came to office, he spoke passionately about the need for 'Islamic awakening'. This was not a crude attempt to re-export the revolution a quarter of a century after it erupted, but to claim a new mantle of populist Muslim leadership.

  • IRAN: The price of sanctions

    On 24 March, the UN Security Council passed resolution 1747, tightening sanctions it first imposed on Iran in December for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment programme. Investment becomes a riskier proposition by the month.

  • Iraq oil reserves may be twice as large as thought

    Iraq's oil reserves could be almost twice as large as currently estimated and its production could double in five years, according to a new study.US consultancy firm IHS estimates another 100 billion barrels of oil reserves could be in Iraq, in addition to the 116 billion barrels identified to date.If correct, Iraq would leapfrog neighbour Iran to have the second largest reserves in the world, behind Saudi Arabia. The study says the bulk of th

  • Iraq situation improving, claims US

    The US Commander for the Middle East, Admiral William J. Fallon, said he was optimistic about the progress being made in Iraq on a visit to Abu Dhabi.Fallon said that the number of suicide bombings in the war-torn country is declining.He also called for diplomatic and peaceful solutions to the showdown with Iran on its controversial nuclear programme. He urged Iran to negotiate and follow the example of North Korea, which has made moves to renounce its nucle

  • IRAQ: Kurdish-controlled area favours the brave

    It has been a long time coming, but after more than 20 years in the wilderness Iraq's Kurdish-controlled areas will soon see the first oil production in the region. 'We are moving forward with the Tawke field development, which will begin producing in one or two months,' says Magne Normann, Middle East director of DNO. The Norwegian firm is set to produce between 40,000 and 50,000 barrels a day (b/d), becoming the first international oil firm to produce crude oil in the Kurdish areas.

  • Irbil plans commercial hub

    Kurdistan Real Estate Development Company (Kredco) has unveiled plans to develop a new commercial centre in Irbil, the capital city of Iraq's Kurdish northern region.

  • Japan lends $850m

    Japan has announced an $850 million loan towards the construction of an oil export pipeline in Basra. The loan is part of $1,500 million in aid for Iraq that was announced by Japan in 2003, and will also be used towards the Basra water supply improvement project, and an electricity reconstruction project in Kurdistan.

  • Japanese sign up for $1.1bn trains contract in Arzew

    A Japanese consortium of Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries and Itochu Corporation have signed a $1,100 million deal to build three liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) trains in Arzew.

  • Joint venture wins stadium work in Dubai

    The local/German joint venture of Arabtec Construction and Max Boegl has been formally awarded the two main stadium contracts at Dubai Sports City.

  • Jubail 2 and Ras al-Zour to form partnership

    A strategic partnership is being planned between the multi-billion-dollar industrial projects at Jubail 2 and Ras al-Zour.The Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu (RCJY), which oversees the industrial complexes at Jubail, reached an agreement in principle in late March with Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden), which is building aluminium smelter and fertiliser plants at Ras al-Zour.Plans have been put in place to exchange chemicals produced at the two sites when production is fu

  • Jubail 3 complex talks begin

    Early stage talks are under way for the construction of a Jubail 3' complex alongside the industrial sites under development in the city.It follows massive interest in the second phase of the scheme and should lead to further diversification of the industrial base.Private sector interest in the Jubail 2 project has been so overwhelming that the Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu (RCJY), which oversees the site, is set to begin a feasibility study for a further industrial complex

  • Jubail expansion gathers pace

    Development of the Jubail vinyl complex expansion, planned by the local Arabian Petrochemical Company (Petrokemya), is proceeding at pace following the award of a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract. Expressions of interest have also been submitted for the overall project management consultancy contract.The FEED package for the vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) unit has gone to Oslo-based Aker Kvaerner. Under the contract, the Norwegian firm will carry out basic engineering on th

  • Jumeirah to drive project

    Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based hotel group, has been appointed to manage a new beach-front development in Khalideya, Abu Dhabi. The hotel will be part of Jumeirah Etihad Towers, which is being developed by the Department of Special Projects. It is scheduled to open in late 2010 and the 60-storey hotel tower will comprise 400 rooms and 200 serviced apartments.

  • Kharafi plans industrial chemicals plant

    Kuwait-based Kharafi Group is to launch an estimated $675 million industrial chemicals project in the third quarter of the year at El-Fayoum, about 130 kilometres south of Cairo.The first part of the two-phase project will focus on the production of 250,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of sodium sulphate, used to make detergents and in the paper-pulping process, and 66,000 t/y of sodium hydroxide (also known as caustic soda).The latter is used in the manufacture of pulp and paper, textile

  • Khartoum threatens military action against Chad

    Khartoum said on 10 April that it might take military action against what it described as a Chadian army attack on its forces. Chad said its soldiers had clashed with Sudanese troops after pursuing Sudanese-backed rebels over the border on 10 April. Khartoum said up to 17 of its soldiers had been killed in the fighting. Chadian Communication Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said the Chadian army had used its 'right of pursuit' to chase the rebels across the

  • King Abdullah University plans on track

    Plans for the new King Abdullah Science & Technology University on the Red Sea coast are taking shape, with the issue of tender documents for the campus' utilities construction contract and an award due for the site development work.

  • King Abdullah unveils Riyadh infrastructure programme

    King Abdullah has launched a package of infrastructure projects in Riyadh worth SR 118,400 million ($31,574 million).The projects cover healthcare, roads, housing, recreation, and public service works throughout the capital. Riyadh's first media production city is to be built, along with a cultural centre for women. King Fahd National Library is to be expanded and a new headquarters built for the city courts.Within infrastructure, the region around the capit

  • Kuwait Petroleum draws up shortlist for chief executive

    A shortlist of candidates has been drawn up to replace Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's chief executive officer, Hani Hussain, who resigned in April, several months before his contract was due to end (MEED 5:4:07).

  • Kuwait: Playing politics with energy

    Thirteen years after first being proposed, Project Kuwait - the state’s $8,500 million programme to develop oilfields in the north of the country - is attempting to inch its way towards credibility.

  • Landmark Indian labour agreement reached

    India and Kuwait have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on labour that it is hoped will significantly improve the labour rights of Indian workers in the state.The MoU signed between the Indian Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi, and the Kuwait Ministry of Social Affairs & Labour, provides for a series of protective measures afforded to employees above and beyond existing local legislation.A committee will be set up to address labour i

  • Leadership needed as the world heads towards economic storms

    Financial Times chief economics commentator Martin Wolf said at the World Retail Congress in Barcelona at the end of March that he expected a period of economic turbulence. The US is slowing and inflation is bound to hinder growth in China, poised to overtake Germany by the end of the decade to become the world's third largest economy.

  • LEBANON: Politics hampers growth

    Since the reopening of the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) in January 1996, the bourse has been trying to make up for lost time. But although it has the experience and most of the right structures in place, the country's volatile political climate is proving to be its biggest obstacle to growth.

  • Lehman granted licence to operate in Qatar

    US-based investment bank Lehman Brothers has been granted a licence to operate in the Qatar Financial Centre.The licence was issued on 5 April by the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority.It will offer investment banking and capital markets services in both Qatar and Dubai, where it was granted a licence to operate in 2006. The bank is also considering applying for licences in other regional markets. Lehman Brothers has appointed Jameel

  • Local airlines hit by fraud

    Airlines in the Middle East had the worst record on internal fraud in the sector last year. A survey conducted by accountancy firm Deloitte on behalf of the International Association of Airline Internal Auditors (IAAIA) found the region had an average of 80 internal fraud incidents per airline in 2006, more than twice the global average of 33.

  • Local firm wins sewage plant bid

    The local/Greek Al-Ahmadiah Aktor has been awarded the AED 1,549 million ($422 million) contract to build the first phase of the grassroots Jebel Ali sewage treatment plant.

  • Locals close gas plant shortlist

    The local Sirte Oil Company (SOC) and the UK/Dutch Shell Group have shortlisted contractors for the rejuvenation of the Marsa al-Brega liquefied natural gas plant.

  • Locals take lead in Failaka tender

    The consortium led by local companies Arabian Real Estate Company and Oriental Construction Company for General Trading & Contracting is the frontrunner on the $3,300 million tourist development of Failaka island, one of the state's landmark infrastructure schemes.However, more than two years since it was first tendered and almost a year since bids were submitted, there is still little sign of progress.Three groups submitted proposals last summer for the 20-year-plus-10 concessio

  • Manama moves ahead with real estate privatisation

    Bahrain's government has announced plans to sell off its stake in Seef Properties as part of its wider plans to reduce its role in the private sector to that of regulator and policy maker.Seef is the kingdom's biggest real estate company and the government plans to sell 48.5 per cent of the firm in a deal worth $69.5 million. Half will be sold to local retail investors, at a 12 per cent discount on the price offered to institutions and foreign investors.Bahr

  • Manana to buy up Gulf Air

    Manama is planning to take full control of Gulf Air, by buying out the stake owned by Muscat. The move would signify the first time the airline, which is currently held 50:50 by the two governments, was owned by just one country.

  • Manifa project on track

    Saudi Aramco. says the major offshore portion of its Manifa gas field development is on schedule and the project will be completed by June 2011. The project involves the construction of a 41-kilometre causeway and 27 drilling islands, including approximately 3.3-kilometre of bridges, to provide access for onshore oil rigs and drilling equipment over the shallow Manifa field.

  • Marafiq syndicates debt

    Syndication has started on the debt package for the Jubail independent water and power project (IWPP), planned by the Power & Water Utility Company for Jubail & Yanbu (Marafiq).The debt package is made up of an equity bridge loan of about $500 million and a 22-year commercial loan of $2,700 million. The mandated lead arrangers are BNP Paribas, Samba Financial Group and Gulf International Bank.A developer team headed by Belgium's Suez Energy International signed the key project ag

  • MARKET IN FOCUS - UAE: Linked fortunes

    The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) seemed to be on the brink of recovery, but the bourse has again shifted into reverse, dispelling hope that it had reached the bottom. One of the keys to its performance is Emaar Properties, the second largest company in the UAE. The fortunes of the company and the bourse are inextricably linked.

  • Market in focus: IPos: Looking to list

    Qatar's new $1,925 million bank, Al-Khaleej, will launch its initial public offering (IPO) of shares on 15 April. The offering is scheduled to go ahead despite the continuing slide in the secondary market that has seen the Doha Securities Market general index lose 15 per cent in the first three months of the year.The determination to float in a bearish market is reflected across the Gulf. At least 16 companies have announced their intention to list in the first half of 2007, the majorit

  • Market In Focus: Islamic BONDS: Delivering sukuks

    Bahrain's Liquidity Management Centre (LMC) is working with Reuters to establish an online market for sukuks. The move is part of an effort to develop a secondary market in Islamic bonds.

  • MARKET IN FOCUS: SAUDI ARABIA: Stock shocks

    Defying a recent spate of disappointing first-quarter earnings reports, market pillar Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) has posted robust net profits, up 50 per cent on the same period last year.

  • MEDIA: New launches lead to greater press freedom

    Across much of the world, the traditional newspaper is in a state of terminal decline, as readers turn to the internet or other sources to satisfy their news and entertainment needs. Saudi Arabia, not for the first time, is bucking the global trend. New titles are regularly rolling off the presses.

  • Microsoft signs IT accord with Doha

    Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has said that the Gulf information technology market has overtaken India and China to become the fastest growing in the world. The software boss made the comments at the signing of a technology deal with the Qatari government.The deal with ictQatar, the information and communication technology regulatory body, will see Microsoft provide education, healthcare and e-government software to Doha, as well as advice and supp

  • Middle East contracts awarded: March 2007

    Over $9bn worth of contracts were awarded across the Middle East region in March, according to this selected checklist compiled from MEED reports throughout the month.

  • Ministry draws up masterplan for medical city

    The Planning & International Co-operation Ministry is to develop the new Al-Saleh medical city in Dhahr Hemiar near Sanaa.

  • Ministry invites water treatment consultancy bids

    The Planning Ministry has invited international consultants, together with their local partners, to apply for prequalification for a contract to design the upgrade the Umm al-Hayman sewage treatment plant in the south.

  • Moody's upgrades banks

    Local banks including Kuwait Finance House and Gulf Bank have been upgraded by ratings agency Moody's Investors Service as part of the roll-out of its new ratings methodology. Moody's says the banks 'benefited from a very high probability of [government] support in case of need'. The agency says the governments of Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE were most likely to lend high levels of support to banks in the event of financial distress. However, ratings in the rest of the GCC remain largely stable

  • Muslim Brotherhood to contest June elections

    The Muslim Brotherhood intends to stand in forthcoming elections to the Shoura council (upper house), the organisation's deputy leader has revealed.The largest opposition group in the country, the Brotherhood has been officially banned since 1954, but plans to field up to 20 candidates in the June polls.'It's not challenging the government as much as emphasising the rights of all Egyptian citizens to participate in politics via legitimate channels,' Mohammed

  • Nakheel seeks transport ideas for Palm Deira

    The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) and local property developer Nakheel have invited international consultants to submit design proposals by the end of May for a transport solution at the multi-billion-dollar Palm Deira offshore island development.

  • Nass bids low for Issa gate

    The local Nass Contracting is the low bidder at BD 38 million ($100 million) for the Issa Town Gate interchange project.The contract involves a grade separated junction with a series of roads, underpasses and flyovers. Other bidders are Hafeera Contracting and Ahmed Mansoor al-A'Ali, both local, a joint venture of Malaysia's Gamuda with the local Haji Hassan, and South Korea's Sungwon Corporation.The Works & Housing Ministry is the client.

  • National Bank launches Asia Pacific fund

    National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has launched an Asia-Pacific equities investment fund aimed at the kingdom's developing middle classes.

  • Northern pipeline will boost oil production

    Baghdad hopes the restoration of oil from its northern oil fields will raise oil production by nearly 1 million barrels a day (b/d) this year, helping the country reach its 2007 target of 3 million b/d, its oil minister told Reuters news agency.'Iraq wishes to exceed producing 3 million barrels a day in 2007 - this is achievable by repairing the northern pipeline that connects to the Mediterranean,' Hussain al-Shahristani said after a meeting with South Korean energy offic

  • North-South rail contracts signed

    The Public Investment Fund (PIF) has awarded three of the four main construction packages on the multi-billion-dollar north-south railway, one of the most ambitious rail schemes of recent decades.

  • Nukote wins contract

    Nukote Coating Systems Middle East, the UAE subsidiary of China's Nukote Coating Systems International, has won the coating contract for the AED 115 million ($31.3 million) Al-Maktoum Floating Bridge. When completed, the bridge will link Al-Ittihad road near Deira City Centre to the Al-Riyadh road in Bur Dubai, next to Creek Park. The project aims to reduce traffic congestion on Al-Maktoum Bridge by 37 per cent.

  • Nymex faces rival crude futures market

    Traders have predicted strong support for a new contract linked to the Middle East sour crude market, which has unsettled plans for a previously announced purpose-built electronic exchange in Dubai.

  • OIL & GAS: Productivity drive begins

    Bahrain shot to fame in the Middle East in 1932 as the first Gulf state to discover oil. Seventy-five years later, it holds the dubious distinction of being the only GCC state to import oil, while it is similarly stretched in terms of securing future gas supplies.

  • OIL & GAS: Riyadh turns on the gas

    After decades of uninterrupted oil-led growth, Saudi Arabia has devoted increasing attention to its gas industry, with unprecedented demand from the power, industrial and energy sectors driving new exploration. Domestic demand is rising at 6 per cent a year for dry gas and 9 per cent a year for wet gas. While domestic gas shortfalls are more pressing in its neighbouring countries, Riyadh faces its own critical period.

  • Oil boom drives cost cutting at Gulf Air

    Andre Dose, the newly appointed president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Gulf Air, has wasted no time in setting about overhauling the beleaguered airline. In his first week in the job in early April, three executive vice-presidents were made redundant and the number of reporting lines to his office was reduced to four from an unwieldy 13.

  • Oil chief calls it a day

    Hani Hussain, vice-chairman and managing director of Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC), announced his resignation and retirement on 5 April.Hussain had been in the local hydrocarbons sector's top corporate job for little more than two years and was to have stepped down in August, when his three-year term expired. However, he was known to have grown tired of the job and rumours over his departure had grown in recent months (MEED 26:1:07).No succes

  • OIL DATA: Oil price remains high on Iran tension

    Oil remained within striking distance of the $70-a-barrel price range as the political focus in Iran switched from the release of 15 British sailors and marines to fresh fears over Tehran's nuclear programme.

  • Oil law to go before parliament despite opposition

    The cabinet will present its long-awaited oil law, which was approved in February, to parliament in late April despite opposition from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

  • OIL PRICES: Iran tension leads to oil price high

    Oil prices hit a seven-month high in the week before retreating by almost $1.50 in a single day.

  • OIL PRICES: Opec rejects calls for output boost

    Oil prices fell back from the $70-a-barrel price range as attention switched from Iran's nuclear threat to focus on the wider global energy picture after Opec dismissed calls to pump more crude.Brent crude ended at $67.11 a barrel on 17 April, compared with $67.89 a week earlier, after reaching a seven-month high of $69.58 a barrel on 2 April.In its April monthly oil market report, Opec cut the forecast for 2007 oil demand by 120,000 barrels a day (b/d) to 30.28 million b/d, but

  • OIL PRICES: Political tension keeps oil price high

    Oil prices hovered at the top of the $60-70-a-barrel range, with continued political uncertainty in the key oil producing nations of Nigeria and Iran.

  • OIL: A delicate balancing act

    Since Egypt started importing crude oil in 2006, the bid to exploit its vast undiscovered natural gas resources is heating up, sparked by strong government reform of the hydrocarbons sector.

  • Olmert ready to discuss future Palestinian state

    Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced on 13 April that he is ready to begin discussing with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on 15 April the legal, economic and governmental structures of a future Palestinian state.According to the Israeli prime minister's spokeswoman Miri Eisin, Olmert and Abbas will 'start talking about what a Palestinian state would look like'. Eisin said this would include 'the type of legal system, economic system [and] government system tha

  • Operator issues invitation

    State upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company has invited contractors to submit prequalification applications by 8 May for deep drilling and medium-depth onshore drilling services in the state (see Tenders). The work covers rigs of up to 3,000 hp, capable of drilling holes up to 36 inches in diameter and with a hoisting capacity of more than 680,000 kilos and a total mud capacity of 4,500 barrels.

  • p13 downpage - PETS Punj Lloyd takes ethylene pipeline job

    India's Punj Lloyd has won the contract to build theethylene pipeline from Ras Laffan to Mesaieed. The client is Qatar Chemical Company II (Q-Chem II).

  • Palestinians claim Washington may ease banking restrictions

    Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad said on 18 April that he was hopeful that the US would ease banking sanctions that have paralysed the Palestinian government for more than a year.The US State Department has made it clear that it has no intention of lifting sanctions against the Hamas-led government. However, the Bush administration is considering whether to make it easier for funds to flow to accounts held by the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which has signed

  • Palm Water invites interest

    The local Palm Water has invited companies to submit expressions of interest by 29 April for a contract to build a new sewage treatment plant serving the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (Jafza) utilities project.

  • Petro-Rabigh gears up for expansion

    A decision is expected to be made by the end of June on whether to expand the estimated $10,000 million Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Company (Petro-Rabigh) complex, currently under construction on the Red Sea coast.

  • Pipeline to run from Dhahran to Sitra

    The pre-front-end engineering and design contract for the Saudi Arabia-Bahrain pipeline project has been completed, with the route expected to run directly from the Abqaiq processing facility.

  • Private firm bids for distribution network contract

    The local Global Energy has submitted a proposal to the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) for the operation and maintenance of a transmission and distribution network from Safaga to Mersa Alam along the Red Sea coast. The proposal is the first of its kind to be made in Eygypt by a private company.Global Energy supplies its tourism and industrial sector clients along the 200-kilometre-long stretch of coastline with power through generators located at each site. The company is pr

  • Producers set to freeze out international gas players

    International oil companies (IOCs) may face curtailed access to deals with Middle East producers as steps towards the formation of a co-ordinated gas-sellers group continue.

  • Project Kuwait oilfield plans due in two months

    Kuwait will present plans for its controversial $8,500 million project to develop its northern oilfields by the end of June.

  • Qatar National Bank opens Libya office

    Qatar National Bank (QNB) has opened its first representative office in Tripoli, marking the latest phase of its regional expansion.The new office was opened on 14 April. QNB has recently also received official approval to establish branch offices in Yemen, Kuwait and Oman and a representative office in Singapore. It already operates branches in London and Paris and has a representative office in Iran.'We are confident that both [Qatar and Libya] will benefi

  • Qatar spending budget hits record highs

    The government has unveiled a budget with QR 72,460 million ($19,900 million) in spending for the next year, the country's largest to date.

  • Qatar to invest in La Skhira

    Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) is set to invest an estimated $2,500 million in the development of a grassroots refinery at La Skhira after state refining company Societe Tunisienne des Industries de Raffinage (Stir) selected the company as its preferred bidder for the flagship project.

  • Racing Club calls for bids

    Dubai Racing Club has invited selected contractors for the Meydan racecourse. The project includes racetracks, a 60,000-capacity grandstand, hotel and museum. It should open in time for the Dubai World Cup 2010. The consultant is Malaysia's Teo A Khing Design Consultants.

  • Railways to ease traffic

    Light rail systems are planned for Riyadh and Jeddah, as local authorities try to ease traffic congestion in the kingdom's two biggest cities. Riyadh will have two lines to connect 40 locations in the capital. The Arriyadh Development Authority, which is planning the project, hopes to increase the proportion of citizens using public transport from 2 per cent to 15 per cent. A network of trains and buses is also being examined by local authorities in Jeddah, and could be ready in two years.

  • Ras Issa invites prequalification

    The project directorate of the Ras Issa oil terminal scheme has invited international contractors to submit prequalification applications by 5 May for two major contracts to build an oil terminal at Ras Issa on the Red Sea coast.

  • Refining capacity to spiral by 2012

    The kingdom's refining capacity is set to grow by 1.3 million barrels a day (b/d) over the next five years to reach 3.4 million b/d by 2012.

  • Regulator calls for transparency

    Improving the standards of transparency and corporate governance in Dubai could increase the value of shares by as much as 30 per cent and help stabilise equity markets, says one of the region's most senior regulators.

  • Responding to terrorism

    On 11 April, North Africa witnessed its worst terrorist violence in almost two years when three suicide bombs in Algiers killed 33 people and injured a further 222. In two other incidents, on 10 and 14 April, five suicide bombers killed themselves in the Moroccan commercial capital of Casablanca, injuring four people.

  • Restructuring plan to take 10 years

    President Ahmadinejad has warned it could take 10 years for the country to move from a mostly state-owned economy to a mostly private one.

  • Results in for Fujairah power and desal plant

    The UK/Japanese developer group of International Power (IP) and Marubeni Corporation is frontrunner to win the right to act as foreign partner on the Fujairah 2 independent water and power project (IWPP), after proposals were opened by Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (Adwea) on 19 April.

  • Riyadh holds 170 terror suspects

    The Saudi Interior Ministry has detained up to 170 foreign and Saudi nationals suspected of planning terrorist attacks on oil installations and military bases.'Some have begun training on the use of weapons, and some were sent to other countries to study aviation in preparation to use them to carry out terrorist operations inside the kingdom,' said the ministry, in a statement read out on state television channel al-Ekhbariya. The ministry said that large ca

  • Riyadh unveils $3 billion education spending plan

    Saudi Arabia has launched an overhaul of the nation's education system, worth almost SR 12,000 million ($3,200 million).The King Abdullah Project for the Development of Public Education, which was approved by the Cabinet in February, has set out a funding programme to improve standards in the classroom and outside school.A budget of SR4,200 million ($1,120 million) has been allocated to improve the educational environment, with SR3,580 million ($955 million)

  • Rolls-Royce to pull out of Sudan

    Rolls-Royce is to close its business in Sudan, bowing to international pressure on companies operating in the war-torn country.The British aerospace and defence group will wind up its contracts with Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company to which it provides turbines for oil pumping and power generation.'We are not giving any timescale but we will close our contracts as soon as possible and progressively withdraw,' says a spokesman for the company.

  • Rotana to expand into India

    Abu Dhabi-based Rotana Hotel Management Corporation is examining plans to expand into India and Pakistan this year as the local tourism market matures.The hotels group plans to double the size of its portfolio by opening 28 properties by 2010, most of them in the UAE, and may seek a stockmarket listing in the next three years.'By 2010, we will have 53 hotels in operation,' says Rotana chairman Nasser al-Nowais. 'So far, we have just been in the Middle East, but this year we have

  • Royal Commission calls for Saudi Landbridge extension

    The Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu (RCJY) has asked the Saudi Railways Organisation (SRO) for an extension to the Saudi Landbridge project as a boost for businesses in the industrial city.The RCJY is keen to establish a rail link on the east coast between its industrial facilities in Yanbu and the port in Jeddah, where the landbridge will currently terminate.'We are in discussions with [the SRO] at the moment,' says Mubarak al-Mubarak, director-general for planning and inves

  • Saad subsidiary plans sukuk to raise funding

    Saad Trading, Contracting & Financial Services Company (STCFSC), the flagship subsidiary of the Saad Group, is to issue a sukuk for general funding purposes.Few companies in the kingdom have issued corporate bonds. The dollar-denominated floating rate Islamic bond will be issued by a Bahrain-based special purpose vehicle Golden Belt to finance lease payments or land in Al-Khobar.Standard & Poor's (S&P) has assigned the Golden Belt sukuk a preliminary unsecured debt rating of BBB+

  • Saidal sale lacks interest

    Pharmaceuticals company Saidal is struggling to attract interest in its privatisation, with at least two of the financial firms shortlisted to advise on the sale expected not to bid.Seven shortlisted companies have been invited to submit bids in early May for the financial advisory contract on the sale of the state-owned business. However, sources close to the project say at least two of the companies will not go ahead.The companies invited to bid are: BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deu

  • Salalah water and power proposals due

    The state-owned Oman Power & Water Procurement Company is due to request proposals for the Salalah independent water and power project by early June.

  • Samba profits decrease

    First-quarter results from Samba Financial Group have shown an 11 per cent decrease in profits, compared with the same period last year. Samba had net profits of $338.7 million for the three months to 31 March and operating revenue fell by 4 per cent to $4,900 million. The company blames the performance on reduced fees from stock market trading. The kingdom's five largest banks have all reported lower first-quarter profits because of reduced brokerage revenues.

  • Samsung wins bridges contract

    South Korea's Samsung Corporation has been awarded an estimated AED 350 million ($95 million) contract to build six bridges on the Palm Jebel Ali.

  • Saudi Arabia set to write off Iraqi debt

    Saudi Arabia has agreed to write off $12,000 million of debt owed by Iraq to the kingdom.The decision, announced on 17 April by Iraqi and Saudi officials, will see around 80 per cent of Iraq's $15,000 million to the kingdom forgiven, despite Saudi concerns about financing the Shia-dominated Iraqi government and abetting Iranian influence in the country. Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr announced that China has also agreed to forgo $4,000 million of debt.'The Prime Minister [Nour

  • Saudia takes on low-cost rivals

    Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) is to launch a low-cost carrier, as the domestic no-frills industry continues its rapid expansion.

  • Saudis arrest murder suspects

    Police arrested eight people on 18 April who they suspect of assisting the killers of four French nationals shot near Medina in February.The eight are accused of providing refuge and assistance to the four men whom police believe carried out the killings at Madain Saleh, 90 kilometres north of Medina. In a statement published on the day of the arrests, the Interior Ministry said the alleged ring-leader, Waleed ibn Mutlaq al-Radadi, was shot dead by security

  • Sectors open up to foreign investors under trade deal

    In a significant further opening up of the market, by the end of 2008 foreign investors will be able to own up to 75 per cent of local companies in the insurance, air and rail sectors as well as in the wholesale and retail trade.

  • Securitisation to raise $2bn

    Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) is close to finalising a $2,000 million capital raising, which is expected to be the first major securitisation in the Middle East.

  • SECURITISATION: Spreading the debt risk

    The Middle East has virtually no experience of securitised debt as a source of finance. But that is set to change. The total value of the securitised debt market in the Middle East is forecast to leap from virtually nothing today to about $4,000 million by the end of 2007, with senior bankers and lawyers expecting issuance to stabilise at between $2,000 million and $3,000 million a year.

  • Series of bombs kill 127 in Baghdad

    At least 127 people were killed today as a wave of car bombings tore through Baghdad.Despite the Iraqi and US security crackdown in the capital, six car bombs went off in five different areas across the city.In the deadliest attack, a car rigged with explosives exploded near a market in the downtown district of al-Sadriyah, home to a mixed Kurdish and Shiite population. One security official put the number of casualties in this attack alone at 82 people kill

  • Sewage treatment plants contract opens to bidders

    Bids were opened on 17 April for the build-own-operate-transfer contract covering two greenfield sewage treatment plants at Al-Wathba in Abu Dhabi and Al-Saad in Al-Ain.

  • Share prices to be based on demand for first time

    The kingdom will see its first initial public offering (IPO) of shares priced on a book-building basis in early May.Saudi Vitrified Clay Pipe Company will offer 4.5 million shares priced through a process in which the underwriter approaches prospective investors with a price range for the shares, in order to gauge demand. The financial adviser on the offering is The Capital Group.In previous IPOs, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) has usually set the share price at a nominal val

  • Shareholders face losses in bank sell-off

    Investors who have been buying shares in National Bank for Development (NBD) ahead of its likely sale could lose a third of their investments after the announcement that the bank's private shareholders will accept a bid substantially lower than the market price.

  • Shell reviews gas field expansion in Iraq

    The UK/Dutch Shell Group has restarted talks with Baghdad over investment in the country's gas fields, despite reservations from its chief executive officer over the geo-political climate.

  • Shell stays silent on abandoned bid

    The UK/Dutch Shell Group is believed to have withdrawn from the bidding process for the estimated $2,500 million contract to develop the country's first gas-to-liquids (GTL) project, according to industry sources. Concerns about rising costs now threaten to completely derail the project.

  • Shiite cleric pulls out of cabinet

    Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has withdrawn support for the governing coalition, amid signs of rising violence in Baghdad.Six cabinet ministers loyal to al-Sadr resigned on 16 April in protest at the failure of the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to set a timetable for a complete withdrawal of US troops. The government is expected to survive.Media reports have pointed to an increase in killings in Baghdad. Some 30 bodies were found dumped in the stree

  • Shuaa Investment Bank to trade in Saudi

    Investment bank Shuaa Capital has obtained a licence to operate in Saudi Arabia.

  • Shuaibah project heads for financial close

    Bayern LB of Germany has been appointed mandated lead arranger on the $240 million expansion of the Shuaibah independent water and power project (IWPP).

  • Siemens bids low for work

    Germany's Siemens is the lowest bidder at KD 27 million ($93 million) for the contract to build the new Siddiq W 300/132-kV substation.

  • Siemens bids lowest for airport electrical contract

    Germany's Siemens is the lowest bidder at KD 31.4 million ($108 million) for the contract to upgrade electrical infrastructure at Kuwait International Airport. The client, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, is due to award the work soon.

  • Six local firms invited to bid on Kuwait airport

    The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has invited six local contractors to submit bids by 17 June for the second package on its estimated $300 million Kuwait airspace system plan.

  • Skills shortage halts progress

    A lack of qualified engineers is starting to affect major projects across the country's water sector, according to international consultants.

  • Sonatrach makes gas find

    State energy company Sonatrach has made a gas discovery at its wholly-owned Ahnet block 340a acreage in the In Salah region in the east.The Tirechoumine Nord-1bis rig, which drilled to a depth of 2,750 metres, found gas at two points. At Emsien, the well flowed at 4,532 cubic metres an hour (cm/h) at a pressure of 500 pounds per square inch (psi) and at Siegenien 2,705 cm/h at a pressure of 450 psi.The finds bring the number of discoveries by Sonatrach this

  • Sonatrach sets bid deadline

    State energy company Sonatrach has set a date of 9 May for the opening of commercial bids for the contract to develop a 1 million-tonne-a-year (t/y) greenfield methanol plant at Arzew in the north-west.

  • Sonatrach signs gas accord with Portuguese firm

    State energy company Sonatrach and Energias de Portugal (EdP) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a strategic partnership covering natural gas and electricity on the Iberian peninsula.The partnership covers the creation of a 50:50 joint venture for the commercialisation of natural gas and a long-term agreement for the provision of up to 2,000 million cubic metres a year of gas by Sonatrach to EdP, the majority of which would be for joint projects operated by the two c

  • SOUR GAS: Majors sweet on sour gas

    With the Middle East continuing to dominate global supplies of traditional crude oil and gas production, the development of sour gas initiatives in the region has been slow to take off, with relatively few opportunities for international involvement. But that looks set to change, with bids for Abu Dhabi's $10,000 million sour gas development programme due in April.

  • Spaniards buy bank stake

    BMCE Bank has sold 5 per cent of its shares to Caja De Ahorros Del Mediterraneo (CAM) for Eur 132 million ($179 million). CAM is the fourth largest bank in Spain while BMCE is the second largest banking group in Morocco. The strategic partnership aims to encourage investment in Morocco's real estate sector and attract investment from Moroccan nationals living in Spain. In March, BMCE acquired a 35 per cent stake in Groupe Bank of Africa.

  • Splitting labours

    Hiving off the financial services regulator from the monetary policy maker is a change underway across the GCC. It is widely seen as an inevitable development and a sign of a maturing market.The UAE is drafting a new securities law that will place the regulation of investment banks and service providers in the hands of the Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority. At the same time, the Central Bank of the UAE is widely expected to spin off its bank supervision department into an auton

  • Standard & Poor's index measures stocks for foreigners

    Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has launched six new indices to measure the performance of GCC listed equities open to foreign investment.S&P has developed an index for each GCC country bar Saudi Arabia, and a GCC composite index of 151 companies across the Gulf in which non-GCC nationals can invest. The composite index has a market capitalisation of about $110,000 million, or about a third of th

  • State posts record revenues

    The state earned record budget revenues for the financial year ending 31 March, on the back of high income from oil exports.According to preliminary data released by the Finance Ministry on 24 April, the government earned KD 15,500 million ($53,500 million) in revenues during 2006/07, a 13 per cent increase on the KD 13,710 million ($47,275 million) gained the year before.As expected, oil sales constituted a huge part of the revenue figure, with crude export

  • STAYING AHEAD: Cairo balances the books

    Egypt has come a long way in a short time. In 2005/06, the government's reform policies combined with increased gas exports and strong non-oil growth to realise a rise in real GDP of 6.8 per cent, up from 4.5 per cent the previous year. Growth of 7 per cent can be expected until 2010.

  • Students killed in truck accident

    More than 15 Egyptian school students were killed on 18 April when the truck they were riding in collided with another vehicle on a main road south of Cairo.The students, all teenagers, were on their way to school when the accident happened. At least five other students were seriously injured.The incident has again thrown Egypt's notorious transport safety into the spotlight. The country has some of highest per capita road accident mortality rates in the wor

  • SULPHUR: By-product risks oversupply

    There has always been a historical fascination with sulphur. In Ancient Greece, it was considered the embodiment of fire. In Christian mythology, it was deemed the fuel of hell. But now, among the Middle East's hydrocarbons goliaths, sulphur is taking up a new role as a by-product that needs to find a home.

  • SYRIA: Hidden influence

    To all appearances, the Syrian regime has quietly watched regional developments from the wings since its embarrassing climbdown over Lebanon in April 2005.After being welcomed on the tarmac by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on 28 March, President Asad addressed the Arab League summit with a rather empty speech that urged Arab solidarity and expressed his satisfaction that 'this summit has put the joint Arab action on its correct track'. After putting in his appearance, Asad boarded a plan

  • Tabreed signs $100 million credit deal

    The local National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) signed on 11 April a $100 million revolving credit facility with a group of eight institutions to fund an expansion of the company's operations.

  • Talks begin over banking licences

    The UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) is talking to two sharia-compliant institutions about obtaining a UK banking licence.'We are in the pre-formal application stage,' says Michael Ainley, FSA head of wholesale banks and investment firms department. 'It takes a maximum of six months to make a decision but it could be quicker than that. There are two types of licences - one for subsidiaries and one for branches. In general, we prefer subsidiaries.'The Islamic Bank of Britai

  • Tatweer requests interest

    Local real estate developer Tatweer has invited expressions of interest in the main building package for the Al-Ruwaya Tiger Woods golf course development in Dubailand. The contract includes a hotel, spa, club house and villas. Australia's APP International is the project manager (MEED 8:12:06).

  • Tehran issues letter of intent for Isfahan

    An Iranian-German-South Korean consortium has been awarded a letter of intent for the Eur 1,300 million ($1,744 million) contract to upgrade Isfahan refinery. The project is part of a drive to raise petrol output capacity and improve the quality of refined products. Unusually, there is no team leader - each member of the consortium has signed up only for a specific section of the project.

  • Tehran issues tender for two atomic plants

    Despite international attempts to curtail Iran's nuclear programme, the country's atomic power company has issued a tender for the construction of two more power plants.

  • Tehran think tank proposes closer links with Riyadh

    Closer relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia would give Tehran greater bargaining power with the West, according to an influential Iranian think tank.The Majlis Research Centre, which has access to classified information from the foreign, intelligence and defence ministries in Tehran, announced the results of a study on relations between the two countries on 15 April.The report proposes bilateral defence agreements between Tehran and Riyadh, including poss

  • Tel Aviv urges Arab flexibility

    Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged the Arab League on 19 April to show flexibility by agreeing to wider talks over a sweeping land-for-peace proposal instead of setting preconditions.Livni said Israel was prepared to meet with an Arab League working group composed of Cairo and Amman but also wanted other Arab states that do not already have full relations with Israel to take part.'Those Arab countries, with whom we don't have relations, could be a pa

  • Telecoms players to be announced

    Saudi Arabia is poised to appoint three new fixed-line telecoms operators after opening final bids from the selected consortiums on 24 April.The three bids are led by Verizon of the US, Hong Kong-based PCCW, and the BahrainTelecommunications Company (Batelco). Their documentation will be reviewed by the Saudi telecoms regulator, the Communications & Information Technology Commission (CITC), and then passed to the cabinet for final approval.Batelco and PCCW, whose operations comb

  • The national strategy: Improving public administration

    The UAE's first national strategy is an effort to improve public administration by setting targets for the federation's 16 ministries to achieve over three years. The improvements called for include: maintaining co-operation between federal and local authorities; revitalising the policymaking role of the ministries; increasing the efficiency of government bodies, and updating laws and regulations.'The strategy marks a new beginning for government sector performance in the UAE, and will b

  • THE RISE OF RIYADH: Power play

    When King Abdullah requested the 19th Arab League summit in March be moved to Riyadh from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Shaikh, it sent a clear message that Saudi Arabia was placing itself centre stage in the region's affairs.

  • The sheikh, the federation and life on the frontline of conflict

    It was one of the most remarkable moments in the history of the UAE. Before more than 1,000 people - including four other rulers of the federation and the representatives of two too sick to attend - UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed unveiled his government's strategy in a speech in Abu Dhabi broadcast live on national television. It combined jokes with unprecedented admissions of public service failings.

  • Three MPs killed in Green Zone blast

    A suicide bomber killed three Iraqi MPs on 12 April at a café in the parliament building in the most serious breach of security in the Green Zone in Baghdad since the US-led invasion in 2003.According to Reuters news agency, senior officials have named one as Mohammed Awadh, a member of the Accordance Front, the biggest Sunni bloc in parliament. Iraqi police said up to 10 people were wounded in the attack.'Suddenly we heard a huge blast inside the resta

  • Tinhert faces retendering

    Fresh doubts have emerged over the future of the estimated $2,500 million Tinhert integrated gas-to-liquids (GTL) project, with indications that it may be retendered.

  • TIRAN CAUSEWAY: Bridging the great divide

    The Middle East has become seemingly obsessed with causeways in recent years. Prompted by the success of the Bahrain-Saudi causeway, built in the 1980s, several similar schemes are being planned, including the 37-kilometre-long Subiya causeway in Kuwait, the 42-kilometre Bahrain-Qatar causeway and even a 65-kilometre UAE-Qatar causeway.

  • Tobacco giant goes private

    The long-awaited privatisation of state tobacco company Societe Nationale des Tabacs & Allumettes (SNTA) is back on the agenda in Algiers following the most recent meeting of the Conseil des Partipation de l'Etat (CPE).

  • Total calls for co-operation to tackle complex projects

    French oil major Total has approached Petroleum & Mineral Resources Minister Ali Naimi over gaining better access to future oil and gas projects in the kingdom.

  • TOURISM: Kingdom opens Gateway to Arabia'

    For a moment in January it appeared that Bahrain had eclipsed its regional neighbours and its previous coup of bringing Formula 1 to the region. The international media jumped on an innocuous story suggesting that one of the world's wealthiest men, Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, was gearing up to lead a group of Gulf investors into developing an $8,000 million Disney theme park in the 33-island archipelago. The Disney Group denied the story.

  • Trade with East Asia increases

    The value of trade between East Asia and the GCC in 2006 totalled about $240,000 million, according to Surin Pitsuwan, Thailand's former minister of foreign affairs and chairman of Bangkok-based Empire Consultants.

  • Tripoli announces Darfur conference

    Tripoli announced on 26 April that it is to host a conference later in the month for key players in the Darfur crisis in an attempt to find a political solution as pressure from Washington mounts on Khartoum.London and Washington are demanding that Khartoum accepts a strengthened UN peacekeeping force in Darfur. Talks are planned for 28 and 29 April and are the latest in a series of meetings hosted by Tripoli. 'They [the Libyans] want to get a recommitment t

  • Tripoli receives masterplan

    The UK's Atkins has submitted a proposal to Tripoli for the masterplanning of the Libyan capital.

  • Tripoli signs petrochemicals venture with Yara

    Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Norway's Yara International have signed a deal to upgrade and expand the Marsa Brega fertiliser complex.The signing of heads of agreement for the joint venture was announced on 25 April. The companies intend to finalise negotiations and establish the new company by the end of the year. The Marsa Brega facility comprises ammonia and urea plants. The plants currently produce 700,000 tonnes of ammonia and 900,000 tonne

  • UK exchange launches rival Dubai oil futures contract

    UK-based The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is to launch a Dubai crude oil futures contract within a month, creating a rival to the New York Mercantile Exchange's (Nymex) Middle East sour crude contract.ICE, which sponsors the benchmark Brent crude oil contract, said it would begin trading in Dubai on 21 May. This is just ten days before the launch of a new Oman crude contract on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) which has been planned for several years by Nymex. Earlie

  • UN atomic energy chief urges nuclear-free Middle East

    Mohammed el-Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has called on Iran and Israel to join a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, following talks in Jordan with King Abdullah II.'At the end of the day the Middle East should be a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, a zone in which Israel and Iran are both members,' el-Baradei said in a statement. 'This is the last chance to build security in the Middle East based on trust and cooperation a

  • UN deals out more compensation

    The Geneva-based United Nations Compensation Committee (UNCC) has paid out a further $280 million in compensation for the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The payments went to more than 40 claimants across the world who had lodged claims with the UNCC for damages and losses caused by the Iraqi invasion. The amount paid by the UNCC since it was set up in the early 1990s has passed $22,000 million, nearly half the total approved by the commission. The total a

  • UN presses Syria on Hariri tribunal

    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad on 24 April to seek his country's support for an international tribunal to try suspects over the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Ban is also expected to discuss alleged weapons smuggling from Syria to Lebanon. The UN has been urging rival Lebanese political factions to support plans for the tribunal, which has sparked tensions between pro and

  • Unicorn launches takaful brand

    The first regional Islamic insurance company, Tazur, will be launched in the third quarter of 2007, with the aim of expanding into Asia and Europe in the future.

  • Upstream profits dive at Chevron

    Chevron Corporation, the second largest oil firm in the US, saw profits at its upstream exploration and production unit fall 16 per cent in the first quarter of the year. Lower prices for crude oil and natural gas meant profits dropped to $2,907 million, from $3,458 million this time last year.Chevron said the average sales price per barrel of crude oil and natural gas liquids was approximately $50 in the first quarter of 2007, a decline of about $4 from a year ago. The av

  • US aids Libyan nuclear plan

    A US official has confirmed that Washington has started to co-operate with Tripoli over the development of a civilian nuclear power programme. Until now, Washington has previously denied such collaboration exists.

  • US firm wins Kayan deal

    The US' Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I) has won a contract, worth more than $40 million, to design and build two double-wall tanks at the Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company olefins complex in Jubail.

  • US firm wins metro deal

    The US' Parsons Brinckerhoff has won a transit-oriented development contract covering the red line of the Dubai metro project. Under the terms of the 18-month contract, the consultant will examine all the infrastructure required to support the stations along the route, to maximise access to the metro and encourage the number of passengers using the system. The client is the Roads & Transport Authority.

  • US pushes UN to make Middle East a priority

    The new US ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said the future of the Middle East is 'the defining challenge of our time', amid plans for greater UN involvement in Iraq.The veteran diplomat, who recently stepped down as US ambassador to Iraq, called for greater UN engagement to improve the Iraq situation, urged Sudan to accept a joint UN-African Union force in conflict-wracked Darfur, and said Lebanon would also be a priority.His spokesman Ri

  • US to establish full embassy in Tripoli

    Washington hopes to name an Ambassador to Libya in the near future and build a new embassy in the Libyan capital, according to US deputy secretary of state John Negroponte.He made the comments in a press conference in Tripoli on 18 April, amid continuing signs of an improvement in relations between the two countries.Negroponte was in the country for talks on the crisis in Darfur, Sudan and met Libyan officials, including Foreign Affairs Minister Abdelrahman

  • US warns its commitment to Iraq is not open-ended

    US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has warned the Iraqi government that American military commitment to the country is not indefinite.On a visit to Baghdad on 18 April, Gates said that patience with the campaign was running out among the US public and within the Bush administration.Gates said he was sympathetic with 'some of the challenges [the Iraqi people] face' but added that 'the clock is ticking'.'Frankly I would like to see faster progres

  • Veba plans oil recovery

    Veba Oil, a joint venture of Petro-Canada and the National Oil Corporation, is preparing the scope of works for two enhanced oil-recovery projects. Tenders should be issued in the third quarter. The Amal reservoir is more than 50 years old and produces 40,000 barrels a day of oil, while no production has taken place in Concession 72. The projects will use carbon dioxide reinjection to increase recovery from the fields to 35 per cent from 25 per cent.

  • Verenex confirms oil find in Ghadames Basin

    Canada-based Verenex Energy has confirmed an oil discovery on its Area 47 acreage in the Ghadames Basin, following further testing over the last two months.Extended flow tests from the A1-47/02 well at three intervals yielded a combined flow of 12,500 barrels a day of light sweet crude oil. The discovery was initially announced on 6 February.The company, which is the operator of Area 47 and has a 50 per cent working interest in it, plans to drill up to six w

  • Voting closes for parliamentary elections

    Polls have closed in the Syrian parliamentary elections. They are the second such elections since President Bashar al-Assad came to power in July 2000.Voting began on Sunday 22 April with a dramatically reduced list of candidates. The official Sana news agency had originally said 9,000 candidates would stand. The day prior to the election however, it announced only 2,500 would put themselves forward for election, without explaining the discrepancy. Several banned oppositio

  • Water management: High and dry

    Essential to human survival, water is a resource the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region has had to manage with care for centuries. It is the driest part of the world, with only 1,100 cubic metres a year (cm/y) per capita of renewable water resources available.

  • WATER: Quenching the thirst for water

    Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) governor Fehied al-Shareef has one of the toughest jobs in world water. Every day, more than 13 million Saudis depend on his company's ability to desalinate and transmit seawater to major cities in the kingdom. Without the service SWCC provides, water-poor Saudi Arabia would be unable to function.

  • Work starts on new clinker line

    Germany's ThyssenKrupp Polysius has started construction work on a new clinker line for the local Fujairah Cement Industries.Under the terms of the contract, Polysius will build a new 7,500-tonne-a-day (t/d) clinker line alongside the existing cement production line. The work includes the installation of a six-stage preheater with calciner, a rotary kiln, a clinker cooler and process systems, and a 580-tonne-an-hour raw material grinder.Fujairah Cement Industries is the largest

  • Yanbu plant closes financing

    Financing has closed for one of the largest privately sponsored petrochemicals projects in the kingdom. The debt equity split on National Petrochemical Industries Company's $750 million polypropylene plant at Yanbu is 75:25, with commercial banks lending $411 million to the scheme. In addition, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund will lend $100 million.

  • Zagros issues tender

    South Zagros Oil & Gas Production Company has issued a tender for a survey of its gas and condensates pipelines near the Zagros mountains. The pipelines are for the Aghar, Dalan-Nar, Kangan and Tabnak fields in Iran. South Zagros is a subsidiary of the National Iranian Central Oilfields Company, which is a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company. The bid deadline is 28 April.

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