MEED
Issue No 10 7 - 13 March 2008
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Adco splits crude deal to aid contractors
Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco) has split work on its crude increment project into three packages, in the latest sign that clients are acting to ease the burden on contractors of heavy workloads and rising material and labour costs. -
Amman takes action to tackle crisis
Jordan has launched a royal committee to address its chronic water supply problems, but finding a solution that will fall in line with its overall economic development could prove problematic. -
Aramco to miss Khursaniyah deadline
Boost in production to 500,000 barrels a day unlikely to be achieved until later in the year. -
Axing subsidies in Jordan is the first step
It took five years and four prime ministers, but Jordan has finally abolished fuel subsidies. -
Baghdad transport reconnects to the world
Iraqi transport is finally getting the investment it needs for economic recovery. -
Bank plans largest ever Islamic financing deal for Ras al-Zour
National Commercial Bank aims to fund project with $1bn tranche. -
Cairo to revive private sector power
Cairo is set to revive private sector involvement in the power generation sector, with legislation to go before parliament that will allow investors to develop plants independently of the government. -
Companies put share offerings on hold in UAE
Firms delay stock market listings while legislation is drawn up allowing them to retain majority stakes. -
Dubai’s failing wastewater system
While the emirate’s sewerage network is struggling under the strain of increasing demand, better long-term planning is enabling other states to provide the necessary additional capacity. -
Emal
The joint venture of Abu Dhabi and Dubai is aiming to create the world’s largest aluminium smelter. -
Emal: MEED Assessment
Emal is not alone in its attempt to develop a large-scale aluminium smelting operation in the region -
Emirates population to exceed forecasts
Dubai and Abu Dhabi face having to revise projections and increase investment in infrastructure. -
Factional fighting boosts reformers in Iran
The controversy over banned candidates and Revolutionary Guard support for one group is fuelling speculation that Mohammed Khatami will run for president in 2009. -
Gaddafi's abolition of ministries sparks unease
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's decision to abolish most government ministries could make foreign companies more nervous about investing in the country, according to observers. -
Jordan's Finance Minister on reforms to public finances
Jordan’s finance minister has a central role in implementing essential reforms to public finances. -
'Justice shares' inflate results of Tehran privatisation round
Iran's privatisation programme raised just $3.5bn in capital during the current Iranian year, a fraction of the sales claimed by the head of the Iranian Privatisation Organisation (IPO) in early February. -
Kurds study potential of local bourse
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has launched a feasibility study into setting up a local bourse, which could act independently of Baghdad. -
Kuwait to sell CO2 emissions to private sector companies
Carbon-capture programme to begin at Mina al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdulla. -
Manama launches probe into banks’ risk management
Central bank to tailor lending rules to reflect risk exposure of finance houses. -
MEED 100 Summary: Saudi firms maintain dominance in the region in 2008
Led by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, companies based in the kingdom take eight of the top 20 spots in MEED’s inaugural ranking of the largest listed businesses. -
MEED 100: Privatisation is key to success
A vibrant private sector is better for economies than a state-dominated one, MEED concludes from its analysis of the Middle East's top 100 publicly quoted companies - particularly once oil revenues start to fall. -
NBK to offer mezzanine facility
NBK Capital, the investment banking arm of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), is preparing to launch the region’s first mezzanine fund. -
Planning will ease growing pains in Dubai
If developers have their way, in a few years’ time Dubai’s population will be bigger than that of the entire UAE today. Housing is being built for more than 5 million people, adding to the 1.4 million already in the emirate. -
Power stays with Gaddafi’s people
Few politicians have the ability to create upheaval the way Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has. In his latest attempt to solve all the country’s problems at once, he has decided to dismantle most of its general peoples’ committees (ministries). -
Q&A: Duncan Hedditch, CEO, Emal
Hedditch discusses how the company differs from other regional large-scale smelters and whether he has concerns about oversupply -
Ras al-Khaimah Minerals & Metals Investments to expand into Europe
Ras al-Khaimah Minerals & Metals Investments (RMMI) is to expand into Eastern Europe in the latest phase of its $1bn international investment plans. -
Reforms will offer banks blueprint
As banks in Bahrain begin to assess their risk-management abilities, it is easy to say the moves are too little too late, given the hundreds of millions of dollars recently written off by Bahraini banks. -
Riyadh turns to private sector
The creation of the National Water Company will enable the kingdom to fulfil plans to privatise its water network, helping the sector to become economically viable. -
Sama Dubai to develop $500m towers project in Jeddah
Sama Dubai, part of the government-owned Dubai Holding, is to enter the Saudi Arabian market for the first time, developing a major tower project in Jeddah. -
Saudi Arabian pharmaceuticals: Six key figures
The six most prominent people in the Saudi Arabian pharmaceuticals sector: Hamad bin Ahmed al-Manie, Saleh Bawazir, Saleh al-Omair, Ayman Tamer, Ghaith Sukhtian, Walid Amin al-Kayyali -
Service giants split $1bn Manifa heavy oil drilling work
Global oil service giants France’s Schlumberger and the US’ Halliburton are to be awarded separate drilling deals worth up to $1bn in total by Saudi Aramco for the 900,000-barrel-a-day (b/d) Manifa heavy oil field. -
Soaring costs blight Gulf construction
As the boom continues, the sector is set to experience further rises in salaries and raw material costs. -
Special report: GCC project market - Squeezed on all sides
The GCC project market is showing few signs of slowing down and most contractors are bracing themselves for further price pressures. The first comprehensive survey of regional price fluctuations reveals the extent to which profit lines are being squeezed. -
Special report: MEED 100 - Region's biggest listed companies in 2008
MEED’s analysis of the Middle East’s top 100 publicly quoted companies by capitalisation shows that the 18-month-long correction in the Gulf’s capital markets, which began in February 2006, has created some good opportunities for investors, if the authorities can restore confidence in the bourses. -
Special report: Power & Water - Controlling resources
Why is the world’s most important commodity, water, also its most undervalued? While oil, gas, steel, cement and even wheat prices have reached all-time highs recently, water remains cheap in the Middle East. -
Standard Chartered enters race for Saudi Hollandi bank
Standard Chartered Bank is entering the race to buy Saudi Hollandi bank, after being told by the central bank that it will not issue it with its own full licence. -
Survey reveals extent of Israeli mobile use in West Bank
A survey by local mobile operator Wataniya Palestine has shown that Israel's two largest telecoms firms are providing one-third of mobile phone services in the West Bank, despite not having Palestinian Authority (PA) licences. -
Tarabot takes lead on Saudi Landbridge deal
Acwa-led consortium is set to be named preferred bidder, with the lowest charge on public finances. -
The 100 biggest companies in the Middle East in 2008
Financial services firms make up 40 per cent of MEED’s list of the 100 largest listed companies, with real estate and telecoms businesses joint second. -
Tunis evaluates sites to produce nuclear power by 2020
State power and gas utility Societe Tunisienne de l’Electricite & du Gaz (Steg) is carrying out technical and economic feasibility studies into the construction of a nuclear power plant in the country. -
Water management: A clear solution
With growing demand for water, governments in the region could reduce the need to build expensive new capacity by better managing their resources.
