MEED
Issue No 22 30 May - 5 June 2008
View all stories from this issue.
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Baghdad accelerates Umm Qasr deep sea port privatisation
Baghdad has issued a request for proposals from international consultants to oversee the privatisation of Iraq’s main deep sea port at Umm Qasr. -
Bank criticises Ras al-Zour bid model
Attack on fixed-price contract is latest sign that contractors are struggling to cope with rising costs. -
Bapco considers refinery expansion
Multi-billion-dollar investment would increase capacity by more than 100,000 barrels a day. -
Boom drives upgrade at Cairo bourse
Egypt’s stock market is to make its expensive move to a new trading platform by July, ahead of a predicted threefold increase in trading activity in 2008. -
Cairo needs coal power
Uncertainty over the availability of fuel supplies has left the power industry wondering how it can increase generating capacity. -
Cairo studies proposal for coal-fired power plant
Cairo is considering a proposal to build a 5,000MW coal-fired power plant on the Red Sea coast. -
Chris O'Donnell
Chris O’Donnell is chief executive officer, Nakheel -
Compromise is needed on costs
Risk is likely to be shared more evenly between different parts of the industry in the future. -
Creating a knowledge economy in Qatar
Doha’s aim of reducing its economic reliance on hydrocarbons to zero by 2020 will prove a difficult challenge despite its early success in developing alternative revenues. -
Days of cheap debt are over
Banks must convince borrowers that the low prices they have been used to in the past are long gone. -
Deficit grows in Iran despite the boom
Record oil prices and growing hydrocarbon revenues are failing to prevent the Iranian economy falling further into debt. -
Doha set for power talks with France
Qatar Petroleum International (QPI), Doha’s state-run global energy investment arm, is to hold talks with France’s EDF and Gaz de France (GdF) in the first week of June, which will include discussions over joint investments in Europe’s power sector. -
Doha too quiet on North field
A three-year pause for breath is turning into an eight-year hiatus.An important piece of information is missing from the debate over the state’s future economic development. -
Dollar financing to return to the region
Drying up of local currency liquidity is increasing the cost of dirham-denominated debt. -
Dolphin Pipeline: An historic moment for Doha
The inauguration of the 360-kilometre Dolphin sub-sea gas pipeline is a key event in Qatar’s development and highlights an opportunity neighbouring Gulf states will regret passing up. -
Dubai to award $1.4bn worth of road building contracts
Deals follow award of emirate’s largest ever road deal to Al-Naboodah. -
Emirates Group
The Dubai carrier is gradually building market share and plans to double its fleet by 2012. -
Emirates Group: MEED Assessment
The airline faces a challenge to maintain standards while sustaining rapid expansion -
Energy: Majors line up for fresh acreage
International oil companies are keen to win the rights to four new gas blocks as the moratorium on exploration of the giant North field looks set to be extended beyond 2010. -
Farhan Faraidooni
A top six figure in the UAE real estate sector -
Firms line up for Cairo's nuclear programme
Cairo has moved a step closer to starting a nuclear power programme after the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) received seven bids for the consultancy contract for the scheme. -
GCC gas network is a pipedream
The political and economic calculations surrounding the gas network make progress unlikely. -
Government adviser urges Doha to drop peg to dollar
Qatar’s senior economic adviser has made a fresh call for the state to depeg its currency from the flagging US dollar and insists the planned GCC-wide monetary union should also have the strength to sever ties with the greenback. -
GTL conversion: The Pearl Project
Gas-to-liquids (GTL) conversion is an umbrella term for a group of technologies that can be used to create liquid synthetic fuels from a variety of feedstocks. -
Iraq offers Kuwait $150m in bid to resolve airline dispute
Baghdad reviews business opportunities in effort to settle compensation claim. -
Kuwait to look at integrating Al-Zour with chemicals plant
Expansion of gas output will provide an opportunity to increase scope. -
Manama calls for gas grid to be set up across Gulf states
Bahrain government wants network to allow GGC members to pool supplies. -
Mohamed al-Gergawi
A top figure in the UAE real estate sector -
Mohammed Ali al-Abbar
Mohammed Ali al-Abbar, chairman, Emaar Properties -
Osos set to retender $1bn Yanbu plant
The local Osos Petrochemicals is to retender its estimated $1bn polybutylene terephthalate complex at Yanbu, after bids for the original tender came in over budget. -
Palestine's new mood of optimism
Pledges of $1.4bn in investment are restoring confidence in Palestine, but Israeli goodwill remains key. -
Peter Riddoch
Peter Riddoch is chief executive officer, Damac Properties -
Petrochemicals: Diversification plans hit delays
Plans to develop of some of the region’s largest petrochemicals facilities are falling behind schedule because of rising construction costs and a lack of ethane to use as feedstock. -
Power: Rapid expansion stretches resources in Qatar
As Qatar General Water & Electricity Corporation conducts the biggest transmission expansion project in the region, securing contractors to carry out the work is becoming increasingly difficult. -
Q&A: Maurice Flanagan, Exectutive Vice-Chairman, Emirates Group
Fluctuating oil prices create a challenge for Emirates -
Qatar - Increasing competition in the fertilisers market
Qatar’s status as a world leader in fertiliser production is already established. When the Qafco-4 urea train came on stream at Ras Laffan in April 2004, Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco) became the largest single-site producer of urea in the world. -
Qatar Petroleum International: Time to build on overseas links
As part of Doha’s economic diversification policy, Qatar Petroleum International has signed a series of headline deals with foreign firms. Now it needs to turn these into concrete investments. -
Qatar Petroleum: Timeline of major developments and agreements
A summary of selected major Qatar Petroleum developments from 1938 to date. -
Royal Haskoning to design iconic bridge to Palm Jebel Ali
Royal Haskoning of the Netherlands has been appointed by local developer Nakheel to design a landmark bridge from Dubai Waterfront to the Palm Jebel Ali, which stretches eight kilometres out to sea. -
Saudi contractors push for steel price index
Construction companies urge Riyadh to create benchmark to bring greater stability to the market. -
Sharjah power authority enters final talks over Hamriya
Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority (Sewa) is in final negotiations with the three bidders for the contract to build the largest power plant in the emirate, at Hamriya. -
Shell's Qatar country chairman Andrew Brown on developing a gas giant
Andrew Brown, managing director of the Pearl GTL project, the world’s largest gas-to-liquids plant, talks to MEED about the challenges he faces. -
Special Report: Why Qatar could extend its gas moratorium
Despite the moratorium on new exploration activity, which effectively locks international firms out of Qatar’s giant North field, there is still plenty happening in the state’s energy sector. Four new offshore exploration rounds are being launched and the oil majors are jostling to gain new acreage. -
Sudair Industrial City development to begin in August
The development of Sudair Industrial City, the $40bn project north of Riyadh, could be formally launched as early as August. -
The road from Sharm el-Sheikh
Issues of instability and political disagreements soon resurfaced at the World Economic Forum. -
UAE real estate: Six key people
The top six figures in the UAE real estate sector: Mohamed al-Gergawi, Mohammed Ali al-Abbar, Farhan Faraidooni, Chris O’Donnell, Peter Riddoch and Wazir Daredia. -
Wazir Daredia
Wazir Daredia is chief executive officer, Trident
