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MEED
January 2007

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  • Abu Dhabi bank mulls sukuk issue

    An extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) will be held on 21 February to vote on a proposal for Emirates International Investment Company (EIIC) to increase its stake in the bank. This follows a decision by the bank's board of directors to approve the change in late December.

  • Abu Dhabi kicks off major sour gas programme

    The biggest gas project in UAE history has entered the bidding phase, after international oil companies (IOCs) were issued with tender documents for Abu Dhabi's sour gas development.

  • Abu Dhabi signs hotel deals

    The local Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) has sold a 75,000-square-metre site on Saadiyat island to Nasser al-Nowais to develop a 400-450-room resort.The property will be managed by Abu Dhabi-based Rotana Hotels and will have a private beach and meeting and conference facilities. A design consultant is due to be appointed soon.TDIC has also leased a 4,800-square-metre site in the Khalidiya area of Abu Dhabi island to the local Bin Salem Group to build a $100 milli

  • Abu Dhabi substations let

    India's Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has won a contract, worth $94 million, to build six substations in Al-Ain for Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority. Under the terms of the 18-month contract, L&T will also install more than 120 kilometres of 33-kV cabling.

  • ABU DHABI: The mother of invention

    For a place that has a reputation for conservatism, Abu Dhabi's gas sector has managed to rack up its fair share of regional firsts over the past 30 years. It was the first Gulf producer to adopt a zero gas flaring policy back in the 1970s. A decade later, it produced the Gulf's first drop of liquefied natural gas (LNG). And now it is on the verge of becoming the first consumer of gas piped in from one of its neighbours.

  • Academy contracts let

    Two local contractors, Transemirates Contracting and Eastern International, have been awarded construction contracts totalling AED 500 million ($136 million) for the academies area of Dubai Sports City (DSC). Transemirates' contract covers the main academies area. Eastern International will build the Bradenton Preparatory Academy.

  • Acetyls complex finance signed

    The debt package for the Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) acetyls complex in Jubail was signed in late December. The $560 million, 12-year facility is in the process of being converted to an Islamic structure.The nine mandated lead arrangers are Arab Banking Corporation, Arab National Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, Gulf International Bank, The National Commercial Bank, Riyad Bank, SABB, Samba Financial Group and Saudi Hollandi Bank. HSBC with SABB is the financial adviser.

  • Additional US troops arrive in Baghdad

    The first contingent of troops deployed under US President Bush's new Iraq strategy arrived in Baghdad on 15 January, US commander George Casey said. 'The initial elements of the first group are here,' Casey said. He did not elaborate on when operations would begin, but said estimates that 4,000 troops had arrived were 'real high'.Casey added that US and Iraqi officials were planning a joint operation, which will be led by Baghdad. He said the two sides were

  • Agrolinz, Borealis merge

    Austrian oil company OMV and Abu Dhabi-based International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) have announced plans for consolidation of two companies they jointly own. They are planning to incorporate Linz-based AMI Agrolinz Melamine International into Vienna-based Borealis. OMV and IPIC both hold a 50 per cent stake in AMI, which produces melamine and plant nutrients, and 35 per cent and 65 per cent respectively in Borealis. IPIC has a 17.6 per cent shareholding in OMV. 'The bundling of AMI's

  • Ahmadinejad announces budget

    President Ahmadinejad has announced the budget for the fiscal year 2007-08, beginning in late March. It projects a spending increase of 20 per cent to IR 2,290 trillion ($248,100 million) and is based on an estimated oil price of $33.7 a barrel, compared with $40 a barrel in this year-+s budget. 'The future is not predictable,-+ said Ahmadinejad, presenting the budget bill to the Majlis (parliament). -+It is possible that our enemies want to reduce oil prices to hurt us. That is why we have s

  • Ajman plan under way

    The government of Ajman is preparing a masterplan for the emirate. The infrastructure development plan will be implemented in 2008 and the government will name the consultant by mid-February. 'A railway is a nice idea,' says Crown Prince Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid al-Nuaimi. 'It's important for people to move through the emirate freely.'

  • Al-Ain upgrades Dubai links

    Al-Ain Municipality has invited contractors to prequalify for three major road projects leading to the Dubai border. The scheme aims to upgrade the existing highways to a speed of 140 kilometres an hour by 2009.

  • Algebra authorised

    Newly formed asset management company Algebra Capital has been granted a licence to operate in the Dubai International Financial Centre. The founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the firm is Ziad Makkawi, a former CEO of Dubai Bank. Joe Kawkabani, previously head of equities asset management at Shuaa Capital, has also joined the new company.

  • Algeria signs legal co-operation pact with Portugal

    Algiers and Lisbon signed on 22 January eight bilateral agreements covering co-operation in diplomacy, economy, law and sport. The agreements included a convention on extradition, judicial co-operation agreements on criminal, civil and commercial affairs and an agreement for co-operation between the justice ministries of the two countries. The accords were made during a visit to the Algerian capital by Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates.

  • Algeria to hold referendum on constitution

    Algiers will hold a constitutional referendum in 2007, the government newspaper El-Moudjahid quoted Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem as saying on 4 January. In November, Belkhadem said the vote, which was originally scheduled for 2006, was delayed due to President Bouteflika's busy agenda. 'There was a postponement, not a cancellation of the date of the referendum,' Belkhadem told El-Moudjahid. 'I assure you that the consultation will be held this year.' Belkhadem did no

  • Alghanim oversubscribed

    Syndication of a $110 million loan for Alghanim Industries has closed oversubscribed and is due to be signed in mid-January. The three-year facility carries a margin of 125 basis points. HSBC acted as sole mandated lead arranger, underwriter and bookrunner. The funds raised will be used for the acquisition of a 30.6 per cent stake in Turkey's Izocam, a producer of insulation materials, from the local Koc Group, which was approved by the Turkish authorities in November.

  • Algiers must support electricity programme, says union

    The national energy union on 25 January called on Algiers to support the ambitious investment programme of state electricity company Sonelgaz. 'The state must help Sonelgaz, either through the increase of electricity power prices or subventions, so that it can fund its 2007-10 development plan,' said Achour Telli, general secretary of the Federation Nationale des Travailleurs des Industries Electriques et Gazieres, speaking in Zeralda in the northeast.

  • Al-Jaber lines up offshoots for sale

    Al-Jaber Group, the Abu Dhabi-based construction and development group, is considering selling stakes in more of its subsidiaries once its oil and gas services provider, GPS Group, lists on the stock market.

  • Al-Jaber lines up offshoots for sale

    Al-Jaber Group, the Abu Dhabi-based construction and development group, is considering selling stakes in more of its subsidiaries once its oil and gas services provider, GPS Group, lists on the stock market.Al-Jaber announced in mid-January that it plans to stage an initial public offering (IPO) of shares in GPS, which it owns 80 per cent of. It is the first IPO of an Al-Jaber company.'As a family-owned business, we have diversified and developed,' says Al-Jaber group operating o

  • Al-Khaleej Bank wins approval

    The new Al-Khaleej Bank is to move ahead with its stock market listing during the second quarter of the year, having gained approval to set up operations from the Economy & Commerce Ministry. The flotation had originally been planned during 2006 but was postponed due to turbulent secondary market conditions (MEED 1:9:06).

  • Allianz arrives in Tripoli

    Germany's Allianz Worldwide Care has signed an agreement with the local African Insurance Company covering the provision of health insurance. The deal will allow African Insurance Company to issue an international insurance policy. Allianz will offer both individual and group policies, with a large part of the demand expected to come from foreign companies.

  • Allianz arrives in Tripoli

    Germany's Allianz Worldwide Care has signed an agreement with the local African Insurance Company covering the provision of health insurance. The deal will allow African Insurance Company to issue an international insurance policy. Allianz will offer both individual and group policies, with a large part of the demand expected to come from foreign companies.

  • Al-Maliki calls for US weapons

    Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on 18 January said that the country's dependence on US troops could decline at a faster rate if Washington supplied Iraqi security forces with more weapons. He urged Washington to adhere to a deal to provide local troops with equipment. 'If we succeed in implementing the agreement between us to speed up the equipping and providing weapons to our military, I think that within three-to-six months our need for American troops will dramatically go down,'

  • Almanakher work awarded

    South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has been selected for the engineering, procurement and construction contract to build the estimated $300 million, 370-MW power plant near Almanakher, east of Amman. The plant will be the kingdom's first independent power project (IPP).

  • Al-Marjan reclamation let

    Belgium's Dredging International has been awarded the estimated $25 million first phase dredging package for the Al-Marjan island development in Ras al-Khaimah. The 3.8-square-kilometre island will be built on a 2-kilometre strip of reclaimed land. The project will have a central lagoon and will involve the construction of 10 hotels, a marina and luxury villas with a total built-up area of about 2 million square metres.

  • Al-Muhairy takes roads

    The local Al-Muhairy General Contracting Company has been awarded the estimated AED 305 million ($83 million) contract for the second phase of roadworks at Mohammed bin Zayed City in Abu Dhabi. The contract covers the construction of roads, pavements, sewers and street lighting for the proposed city. Total costs for the 20-square-kilometre development are estimated at about AED 14,000 million ($3,815 million).

  • Al-Toukhi wins power plant

    The local Al-Toukhi Contracting has signed the SR 725 million ($193 million) contract to extend the Jizan power plant in the southwest of the country.Under the terms of the two-year contract, the company will supply and install six distillate-fired, 50-MW turbines manufactured by the US' GE Energy.Al-Toukhi was the low bidder for the contract when bids were submitted last year, submitting a price nearly 15 per cent lower than the next best offer by the local Arabian Bemco Contrac

  • Al-Zour bid evaluation continues

    Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has invited the bidders for its planned new refinery project at Al-Zour to attend clarification meetings in London in an effort to resolve budget difficulties.

  • Al-Zour scheme hangs in the balance

    Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), the state refinery operator, has admitted that the fate of its planned 615,000-barrel-a-day refinery at Al-Zour is in doubt after bids came in way over the project's budget. 'We need this project, but we are not so desperate for it to be built [at any price],' Ahmad al-Jemaz, manager of the new refinery project at KNPC, told MEED in late December.When they were submitted on 17 December, the low bids for each of the four main packages on offer tot

  • Amlak finds home in Egypt

    Dubai-based sharia-compliant housing finance provider Amlak Finance has made its first move outside the UAE, opening an office in Egypt. The company plans to continue its international expansion by establishing operations in other markets around the region.'We've identified Egypt, Algeria, Syria, Morocco and Pakistan as markets with significant potential,' says Amlak deputy chief executive officer Shahli Akram Juma. 'These governments are looking at housing as a huge national challenge.

  • Amman plans 16 sell-offs

    Amman is planning up to 16 major privatisations of state-owned companies this year, according to Mohammed Abu Hammour, chairman of the Executive Privatisation Commission.

  • Apache makes Western desert discoveries

    The US' Apache Corporation has made a number of oil and gas discoveries across its exploration wells in the Western Desert.

  • Apache makes Western desert discoveries

    The US' Apache Corporation has made a number of oil and gas discoveries across its exploration wells in the Western Desert.

  • Arab line gets bigger

    Egypt's Al-Sharq Gas Company is to increase the capacity of the Arab gas pipeline, running from North Sinai to Aqaba in Jordan, to 33 million cubic metres a day (cm/d) from the existing 7 million cm/d. The company has appointed the UK's Penspen to carry out engineering design work on a new gas compressor station at El-Arish. The pipeline supplies gas to electricity generators in Jordan and is being extended into Syria and Turkey.

  • Arabtec Construction pulls ahead of pack

    The biggest contractor in the federation is poised to grow even bigger in 2007.

  • Arcapita takes bite in US

    Bahrain-based Arcapita has acquired US dentistry company Sanus Holdings, in its biggest US acquisition to date. Operating under the name Forba, the company manages 50 clinics. Forba's revenues have been growing at a compound rate of more than 40 per cent over the past six years, according to Arcapita chief executive officer Atif Abdulmalik. Revenues in 2006 are projected at $142.2 million.

  • Aromatics Oman makes award

    A consortium of South Korea's GS Engineering and LG International has awarded the local Al-Hassan Engineering Company a $58 million civil works contract on the new aromatics complex at Sohar industrial port.The 18-month contract involves structural and mechanical works and utilities piping for the complex, which includes a 790,000-tonne-a-year (t/y) paraxylene unit and a 210,000-t/y benzene plant.Aromatics Oman, a joint venture of Oman Oil Company, Oman Refinery Companyand LG

  • Aromatics Oman makes award

    A consortium of South Korea's GS Engineering and LG International has awarded the local Al-Hassan Engineering Company a $58 million civil works contract on the new aromatics complex at Sohar industrial port.

  • Atlas rebrands itself

    Amman-based Atlas Investment Group, the investment banking arm of Arab Bank, has changed its name to Al-Arabi Investment Group (AB Invest). The rebranding is aimed at boosting the group's regional position and follows the recent appointment of a new managing director, Jawdat Halabi.

  • Austrians start output

    Austria's OMV has started production from block S2, which covers an area of 1,000 square kilometres in central Yemen, at 1,000 barrels a day (b/d). The company plans further development of the field to take output to 11,000 b/d by 2008 and 32,000 b/d by 2009/10, at an estimated cost of $250 million-300 million.

  • Authority proposes Hajj terminal levy

    Passengers using King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah could be hit by a new tax, after a decision by the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) to raise a levy to pay for the upgrade work on the Hajj terminal.

  • Awards complex let

    The local/UK Dutco Balfour Beatty has been awarded the AED 283 million ($77 million) contract for a proposed mixed-use development in Jumeirah. Known as the Sheikh Hamdan Awards Complex, the development is at the end of Jumeirah Beach road and involves the construction of three nine-storey buildings in a crescent formation with a total built-up area of 116,000 square metres. Dubai Municipality is the client (MEED 1:9:06).

  • Awards near on Setif water distribution contracts

    Commercial offers for six contracts to build dams and water supply networks for the Setif region in the northwest are set to be opened by the end of January, with awards expected by March, say project sources.

  • Ayla deadline nears

    Companies have until 31 January to submit bids for the phase 1 infrastructure package on the estimated $700 million Ayla Oasis project in the gulf of Aqaba. The development, close to the border with Israel, involves the construction of five hotels, 3,000 residences, a marina village, an artificial lagoon and an 18-hole golf course. Twenty companies are prequalified for the contract. An award is due by the end of March (MEED 27:10:06).

  • Baghdad and Irbil dispute draft law

    A rift has opened up between Baghdad and Irbil over the plans for a new hydrocarbons law for the country, with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) criticising the Iraqi Oil Ministry's handling of the negotiations to finalise a draft.

  • Baghdad blasts claim 13 lives

    At least 13 people were killed when two bombs exploded near a petrol station in the Baghdad suburb of Mansour on 4 January. A further 20 people were wounded. The explosions came after the capital witnessed a fall in the number of major attacks during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. Violence is expected to grow following the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on 30 December.

  • Baghdad welcomes regional forum to reduce tensions

    Iraqi Vice-President Adel Abdel Mahdi has welcomed proposals for a regional forum of its six neighbours, and other countries such as the US, as part of the effort to reduce tensions in the region.Speaking at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mahdi condemned 'old policies of fighting others' and said that 'neighbouring countries should be partners'. Former Iraqi President Adnan Pachachi, also attending the meeting, said that effective pro

  • Bank results out

    The first set of 2006 bank results have shown healthy profits, allaying fears of a slowdown after the collapse of Gulf stocks last year.Among UAE banks, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank led the way, with net income of AED 2,147 million ($585 million), a 12.3 per cent rise year on year. It was followed by Emirates Bank International, Dubai Islamic Bank and First Gulf Bank with profits of AED 1,888 million ($514 million), AED 1,560 million ($425 million) and AED 1,533 million ($418 million) respe

  • Bank sell-off ready for launch in early February

    The sale of a majority stake in one of the country's biggest banks - a keystone of Algiers' privatisation programme - is to be launched in early February.

  • Banks lower lending criteria

    Banks are increasingly aggressive in their consumer lending policies as Qatar's banking sector becomes more competitive, according to a new report from Moody's Investors Service.

  • Barwa plans real estate projects

    The local Barwa Real Estate Company is planning a raft of major real estate developments throughout the state.

  • Barwa plans real estate projects

    The local Barwa Real Estate Company is planning a raft of major real estate developments throughout the state.

  • Batelco loan approaches

    Syndication is due to be launched imminently for a $300 million loan for Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco). The tenor is three years. Arab Banking Corporation and Standard Chartered Bank are the mandated lead arrangers. Batelco is seeking fresh funds as the operator embarks on international expansion as well as offering new services within the kingdom.

  • Bayan resumes Gate work

    Kuwait-based Bayan Holding Company has reached an agreement with Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) to restart work on the $300 million Jordan Gate project.

  • Beirut prepares reform package

    Doubts are mounting over the viability of government plans to revive the country's economy, including the holding of an international donors' conference in Paris on 25 January.The government has unveiled proposals to rebuild the economy, which was already suffering before last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah, but they could suffer from ongoing divisions between government and opposition groups in parliament.'The cabinet has released documents concerning the package which

  • Belgians selected for Manifa dredge

    The first major construction contract for the $11,000 million Manifa field is set to be signed, underlining Saudi Arabia's commitment to its crude oil investment programme despite falling oil prices.

  • Bidders line up for gas loop

    Nine local and international companies are preparing to submit technical and commercial bids for the Sohar-Nimr gas loopline, after Oman Gas Company was forced to retender the contract.

  • Bidders line up for gas loop

    Nine local and international companies are preparing to submit technical and commercial bids for the Sohar-Nimr gas loopline, after Oman Gas Company was forced to retender the contract.

  • Bids come in for Al-Qasr

    Local property developer Dar al-Arkan Real Estate Development Company has received bids from local contractors for more apartment work at its Al-Qasr development. The three packages centre on the construction of 16 five-storey apartment blocks. Each package is valued at about SR 100 million ($27 million). The US' Turner Arabia is the project manager.

  • Big contracts worth the risk in Qatar

    Despite the obstacles, international and local contractors netted big contracts in the gas-producing state last year.

  • Binladin lays out Adra industrial plan

    Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) will build up to 10 factories in an estimated $85 million first-phase development in Adra Industrial Estate, near Damascus.

  • Binladin takes airport work

    Plans to upgrade the terminal facilities at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah are finally moving ahead, five months after bids were submitted. The multi-billion-dollar expansion is one of the most eagerly anticipated projects in the kingdom as the airport is the main gateway for millions of pilgrims.

  • Binladin wins Hajj terminal

    The French/local team of Aeroports de Paris and Saudi Binladin Group has won the Hajj terminal upgrade contract at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.The group was expected to win the estimated $250 million project after it submitted the best technical and commercial offers in early December, beating off competition from four other bidding groups (MEED 15:12:06).The 20-year build-operate-transfer project calls for the upgrade and operation of the 500,000-square-metre

  • BP inks Oman deal

    The UK's BP on 22 January formally signed a production-sharing agreement with Muscat covering 2,800 square kilometres in the centre of the sultanate, including the Khazzan and Makarem fields. The British firm will develop tight gas reserves from the acreage, which the company estimates could yield resources of 20 trillion-30 trillion cubic feet of gas. The deal was signed in the Omani capital by Minister of Oil & Gas Mohammed bin Hamad al-Rumhi and BP's chief executive o

  • BP tightens up

    The UK's BP signed a production-sharing agreement with Muscat on 22 January, giving it access to two fields with up to 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The agreement covers an area of 2,800 square kilometres, including the Khazzan and Makarem gas fields. The fields were discovered in 1993 but have remained undeveloped due to the complexity of their tight gas reservoirs. Production is expected to begin in 2010. (MEED 22:12:06).

  • Bridge group takes shape

    The multi-billion-dollar bridge across the Straits of Tiran has taken a step closer to reality with the formation of the project company for the scheme.

  • Bridge group takes shape

    The multi-billion-dollar bridge across the Straits of Tiran has taken a step closer to reality with the formation of the project company for the scheme.Called the Egyptian Saudi Association for the Construction of the Tiran Causeway, the project company will develop the estimated $3,000 million project on a build-operate-transfer basis. The firm's main shareholders are Saudi Aramco, Saudi Binladin Group, Kuwait's Kharafi Group and Dexia, as well as the Saudi Arabian and Egyptian transpor

  • Brotherhood is threat to investment, says Mubarak

    The rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood would threaten Egypt's security as well as discouraging investment, Egyptian President Mubarak was quoted as saying by local weekly newspaper El-Osbu on 11 January.'The trend of the outlawed Brotherhood group poses a threat to Egypt's security because it adopts a religious approach,' Mubarak said. 'If we assume that there is a rise in this trend we will see a repeat in Egypt of other experiences of regimes representing political

  • Budget deficit drops

    Muscat's 2007 budget forecasts a drop in the deficit to RO 400 million ($1,039 million), 38 per cent lower than the previous year. Expenditure is set to rise to RO 4,890 million ($12,701 million) in 2007, up 15 per cent, with revenues budgeted at RO 4,490 million ($11,662 million), an increase of 25 per cent on 2006. The budget is based on an oil price of $40 a barrel compared with $32 a barrel in last year's budget. The price of Oman crude was $59 a barrel in mid-December.

  • Bush backs Middle East peace initiative

    US President Bush on 5 January backed calls for a resumption of international talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed a new meeting of the Middle East Quartet: the EU, US, UN and Russia. 'Madame Chancellor had a good idea to convene the quartert,' Bush said. 'We're strongly committed to a two-state solution. Two democracies supporting each other's rights to exist.' However, Bush added that the quartet should not be drawn into other issues

  • Bush plans Iraq reshuffle

    US officials say President Bush is expected to make a number of changes to the US military command in Iraq. Media reports on 4 January said William Fallon - currently the leading commander in the Pacific - will replace John Abizaid as head of Central Command for Iraq and Afghanistan, while David Petraeus will take over from George Casey as the top ground commander in Iraq. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Iraq, is expected to replace John Bolton as US ambassador to the UN.

  • Bush unveils Iraq plan

    Washington will send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq and will seek to disrupt Syrian and Iranian support for Iraqi insurgents, US President Bush said in a long-awaited policy speech on 11 January. The Iraqi government will also appoint a military commander and two deputy commanders for Baghdad and will deploy Iraqi Army and National Police brigades across the capital.Bush also called on the US' regional allies to support the government in Baghdad. 'Countries such as Sa

  • Cabinet approves budget

    The Council of Ministers (cabinet) has approved the state's budget for 2007/08, based on a projected oil price for the fiscal year of $36 a barrel.

  • Cabinet approves budget

    The Council of Ministers (cabinet) has approved the state's budget for 2007/08, based on a projected oil price for the fiscal year of $36 a barrel.

  • Cairo set to sign European trade agreement

    Cairo expects to sign an agreement to create a free trade zone with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) on 27 January. The agreement, to be signed during the annual World Economic Forum talks in Davos, will establish a duty-free trading area between Egypt and the EFTA members - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The agreement will liberalise in particular the trade in visible goods and will eliminate the discrimination of Swiss industrial exports on the

  • Cap Ghir lures developers

    A total of 20 local and international companies have submitted prequalifications to Office National de l'Electricite (ONE) for the planned coal-fired independent power project at Cap Ghir, north of Agadir.

  • Cap on rent rises halved

    The Dubai government has more than halved the cap on rent increases, from 15 percent to 7 per cent. The move should help to reduce inflation, but its impact on housing costs could be undermined by a continuing shortage of rental properties. Dubai residents spend between 35-45 per cent of their disposable income on rent and rising rent costs form the bulk of inflation in the UAE. Inflation reached 10 per cent in 2006.

  • CAPITAL MARKETS: In search of sophistication

    The story of the Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) share offering reads like a manual on how not to stage a public share offering. Thanks to a series of missteps taken en route to listing and then a hefty dose of bad luck, the stock listed on 11 November and its price plummeted by 20 per cent (see Analysis, page 57).

  • Cegco field narrows

    The race for the government's 51 per cent stake in Central Electricity Generating Company (Cegco) has narrowed with the withdrawal of Dubai-based Abraaj Capital. The Executive Privatisation Commission is evaluating proposals from Amman-based JD Capital and Kuwait's Kharafi National. An award is expected to be made by February. The sale will be the first step in the privatisation of the kingdom's energy sector (MEED 22:12:06).

  • Centurion takes control

    Royal Dutch/Shell Group has ended a 50:50 farm-in agreement with Canada's Centurion Energy on two onshore exploration concessions. In March last year, the two companies signed the deal for the West El-Manzala and West El-Qantara concessions operated by Centurion. They now revert to full ownership by Centurion. The agreement included an initial $15 million payment to Centurion from Shell and technical assistance and advice.

  • Charges against Saddam dropped

    All charges against Saddam Hussein were dropped by the Iraq High Tribunal as the trial of six of his co-defendants resumed. The men are charged with crimes against humanity for their roles in the 1980s anti-Kurdish campaign which left an estimated 100,000 people dead. The trial had been adjourned on 21 December. Saddam was hanged on 30 December after he was convicted over the 1982 killing of 148 Shia villagers from Dujail. The UN has called on Baghdad not to allow the exec

  • China defends Pars gas field plans

    China has defended its plans to invest in an Iranian gas field project after the US expressed concerns over a possible deal. State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) plans to invest in the development of Iran's Pars field. 'We think this kind of co-operation and relationship is legitimate,' Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao said.The comment came amid continuing tensions between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuc

  • Chinese win corridor work

    The Public Works & Housing Ministry has awarded the first contracts for the Amman Development Corridor Project to develop a highway linking the kingdom's two largest cities, Amman and Zarqa.

  • Chinese win headquarters

    China State Construction & Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) has been awarded the estimated $23 million contract to build the local offices of French shipping company CMA CGM near Houari Boumediene airport in Algiers. Direct negotiations with CSCEC began in the autumn after none of the five bidders proposed an acceptable budget for the job. Excavation work has been completed by the local Artrap.

  • CONSTRUCTION: The cheaper alternative

    Businessmen from Beijing or Shanghai are now a common sight in Tehran's more salubrious restaurants and hotel lobbies. A large delegation of businessmen was recently taken around the country, meeting officials, potential private sector partners and large government clients.

  • Contractor picked to build Abu Dhabi's tallest tower

    Local developer Sorouh Real Estate has awarded the first major construction contract on its flagship Shams Abu Dhabi development for Sky Tower. The 380-metre-high Sky Tower will be the tallest building in Abu Dhabi and the 15th highest in the world.

  • Contracts 1 dec

  • Contracts 1 dec

  • Contracts 1 dec

  • Contracts 1Sep

  • Contracts 1Sep

  • Contracts 1Sep

  • Contracts 3 nov

  • Contracts 3 nov

  • Contracts 3 nov

  • Contracts 4 aug

  • Contracts 4 aug

  • Contracts 4 aug

  • CONTRACTS AWARDED IN DECEMBER 2006

  • CONTRACTS AWARDED IN DECEMBER 2006

  • Correction

    The current capacity of Dubai International Airport is 25 million passengers a year, not 35 million as stated in MEED on 19 January. The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) says that the expansion, currently under way, will cost $4,100 million and will add a further 45 million passengers a year.

  • Courts resolve Israeli sperm case

    An Israeli couple won the right on 19 January to use sperm taken from their dead son to impregnate a woman. Keivin Cohen, a soldier with the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), was killed in the Gaza Strip in 2002, after which his parents extracted his sperm and asked for female volunteers. They claimed it had been their 20-year-old son's wish to be a father and they wanted to continue their family bloodline. Following the ruling by a Tel Aviv court, the couple will use the sperm to i

  • Daelim bids low for pipeline work

    South Korea's Daelim Industrial Company is low bidder at KD 74 million ($255 million) for the contract to supply and replace nine oil pipelines between its north and south tank farms. The client, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), will take about three months evaluating bids before making an award (MEED 8:9:06).

  • Danes win cement work

    The local Sinai White Cement Company, a subsidiary of Denmark's Aarlborg Portland White Cement, has awarded Denmark's FL Smidth an estimated $37 million contract to supply technical services and machinery on the expansion of its white cement plant in Sinai.

  • Date for Middle East peace summit set

    The members of the quartet of Middle East negotiators (the UN, the EU, Russia and US) will convene for a peace summit in Washington on 2 February in an effort to resume stalled negotiations.'I have issued an invitation to the members of the quartet for a meeting in Washington for a meeting that will take place the week beginning 29 January, and is likely to take place on 2 February,' US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said before holding talks with German Chancellor An

  • Desalination plant retendered

    The Ministry of Energy (Electricity & Water) is retendering the contract to build the Shuwaikh desalination plant, inviting prequalified contractors to submit bids by 11 March.

  • Descon wins on Pearl

    Pakistan's Descon Engineering has been awarded an estimated $180 million contract to carry out work on the Pearl GTL project. The award, placed by Royal Dutch/Shell Group, involves providing construction services for elements on the synthesis core and captive power plant. Athens-based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) is carrying out the bulk of construction work (MEED 1:12:06).

  • Doha builds up water treatment

    Five international groups have submitted bids to design, build and operate the Doha north sewage treatment plant (STP), as the country strives to deal with a booming population.

  • Dornier wins consultancy

    Germany's Dornier Consulting has won a consulting and technical assistance contract on the proposed Port Sudan-Khartoum railway project. Under the terms of the five-year contract, Dornier will provide supervision and cost control services and review technical plans. The railway will be converted to a double track by Chinese contractors. Beijing has lent Khartoum $1,200 million to fund the construction. The client on the scheme is Sudan Railways Corporation.

  • Doubts cast on dollar peg

    The central bank governors of the six GCC states will discuss at a meeting in Riyadh in March whether to change the currency peg away from the dollar.

  • Doubts cast on dollar peg

    The central bank governors of the six GCC states will discuss at a meeting in Riyadh in March whether to change the currency peg away from the dollar.

  • Dozens killed by Baghdad bombs

    At least 85 people were killed in a series of attacks across Baghdad on 16 January. A double bombing outside Al-Mustansiriyah University in the east of the capital left at least 60 people dead while another 15 died in two explosions in the city centre. In northern Baghdad, gunmen attacked shoppers, killing at least 10 people. The attacks came as the UN said 34,400 Iraqis had died across the country in 2006. A further 36,000 civilians were also injured.

  • Dredging contractors digging for opportunities in the Gulf

    Dredging contractors in the Gulf are busier than ever. New business will focus on a raft of port projects across the region.

  • Du risks fines in advance of March launch

    Local telecommunications operator du is set to start operations by the end of March, following the recent signing of a long-awaited interconnectivity agreement with Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat).

  • Dubai awards new roads

    Dubai's Roads & Transport Authority has awarded two contracts covering the parallel roads scheme and the Al-Nahda-Beirut Road intersection. China State Construction & Engineering Corporation has been awarded the AED 600 million ($163 million) contract for two roads running parallel to Sheikh Zayed road. Turkey's Yuksel has taken the AED 289 million ($79 million) contract for improvements to the intersection between Beirut road and Al-Nahda road. Both contractors were low bidders for the contr

  • Dubai construction site catches fire

    Dozens of construction workers were injured when the building they were working on caught fire near Dubai Marina. Workers began to climb down the building to escape the flames as a rescue helicopter was unable to land on the roof.

  • Dubai Holding rejigged

    Government-owned Dubai Holding has restructured, with new management teams for its subsidiaries. Ahmad bin Bayat has been promoted to chairman of Tecom Investments and Abdullatif al-Mulla to chief executive officer (CEO). At Dubai Properties, Hashim al-Dabal has been appointed chairman and Mohamed bin Brek as CEO. The other new chairmen are: Saeed al-Muntafiq at Tatweer, Farhan Faraidooni at Sama Dubai, Gerald Lawless at Jumeirah Group and Sameer al-Ansari at Dubai International Capital. Soud Ba

  • Dubai Holding takes debut eurobond on the road

    Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG) has boosted its prospects for raising cheaper finance by becoming the first Dubai government entity to gain an international credit rating. It comes as DHCOG launches a bond as the first part of a new $5,000 million fundraising exercise.

  • Dubai pushes parallel road

    Dubai's Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is moving ahead with plans for its controversial parallel roads scheme that will pass through a number of major residential communities close to Sheikh Zayed road.The project has caused an outcry among residents as the two roads are expected to pass through a number of residential communities including Al-Barsha, the Greens, Springs and Meadows, and the Gardens housing developments. Residents at the Gardens have already been informed that 12 buil

  • Dubai to expand emirate-wide drainage network

    Dubai Municipality plans to start work on two major drainage projects this year which will link new residential developments to the emirate's sewerage network.

  • Durrat contract expanded

    The local/Kuwaiti joint venture of Nass Contracting and Burhan International Contracting Company has had the value of its contract to build the infrastructure for the Durrat al-Bahrain resort more than doubled. It will now include the second phase of the project.

  • Duty-free shops set to open

    International and local consortiums have been invited to submit proposals to operate duty-free shops at airports in the kingdom. However, doubts have been raised about their appeal as the kingdom is already a tax-free environment.

  • EAgrium jetty prices in

    Bids are under evaluation at Egypt for Nitrogenic Products (EAgrium) for the marine works package on its $1,000 million urea and ammonia project at Damietta. The bidders for the estimated $30 million-40 million contract are Geneva-registered Archirodon Construction (Overseas) and the Belgian/local venture of Besix and Orascom Construction Industries (OCI). The engineering, procurement and construction contract centres on the building of a 300-metre-long jetty and involves substantial dredging wo

  • EAgrium selection delayed

    The financing of the Agrium Egypt for Nitrogenic Products (EAgrium) project has been delayed, with banks not expected to be appointed before early February.

  • ECONOMY: A distorted picture

    Local economists complain that the Islamic republic becomes more difficult to understand every year. Figures are frequently dismissed as misleading, while economic and political trends often seem totally contradictory. 'How does this country continue to work?' says an economist working with a major international company in Tehran. 'It's a mystery.'

  • ECONOMY: Rosy outlook

    Oil prices averaging $65 a barrel ensured a strong performance for the Algerian economy in 2006, with GDP growth rising to 4.6 per cent from 4.3 per cent the previous year. The country is estimated to have earned more than $50,000 million in oil and gas revenues in 2006, boosting export earnings by 18.5 per cent to $45,000 million and foreign exchange reserves up to $75,000 million from $56,000 million a year earlier.

  • Education city planned

    The Economic Development Board has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kuwait Finance & Investment Company to create a Higher Education City, at an estimated cost of $1,000 million. The complex will include branches of international universities and is aimed at bridging the gap between state education and private sector labour market requirements. The scheme should be operational in four years.

  • Egypt arrests Brotherhood supporters

    Reports on 16 January said Cairo had detained six senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Five of those arrested on 14 January are wealthy businessmen thought to have contributed financially to the outlawed organisation. The latest arrests come days after President Mubarak warned that a strengthening of the Brotherhood would threaten national security. The group, which is officially banned, has said it will relaunch itself as a political party. Fielding independent candi

  • Egyptian bank raises capital

    Export Development Bank of Egypt is to raise £E 210 million ($36.7 million) in new capital with a forthcoming rights issue. Shares in the bank gained 7.2 per cent in value on the Cairo & Alexandra Stock Exchange today following news of the intended deal, which will raise the value of the company's issued share capital to £E 800 million ($140 million). Last week, it was revealed that Export Development Bank's budget for the 2006-07 financial year will increase by 25

  • EGYPTIAN PROJECT FINANCE: Trio of deals hits the Egyptian market

    In an unusually busy period for Egyptian project finance, three deals are now going ahead. Between them they could set a template for future deals, particularly for petrochemicals, including whether to continue having seperate tranches for local and international banks.

  • Egyptians win infrastructure upgrade work

    Egypt's Arab Contractors (Osman Ahmed Osman & Company) has won three contracts in Saudi Arabia worth SR 493 million ($131 million).The largest, estimated at SR 329 million ($88 million), is the construction package for five pedestrian tunnels, each 80 metres by 13 metres; four vehicle tunnels, each 500 metres by 24 metres; and two 80-by-81-metre vehicle bridges in Medina.The second package, worth SR 85.5 million ($23 million), is for construction of a one-kilometre-long tunnel an

  • Eight price reinjection job

    Eight bidders have submitted revised prices for the estimated Eur 180 million ($234 million) contract to build water treatment and reinjection facilities on the Al-Feel oil field in the south. The bids will be opened on 21 January, with an award expected in the first quarter. The field exports about 100,000 barrels a day (b/d) of crude.

  • ELECTIONS: Signs of discontent

    The first real indication of how Iranians see Ahmadinejad's presidency came on 15 December with the elections for the Assembly of Experts and city councils. His faction performed poorly in both polls, a poor personal reflection considering he was so closely associated with the campaign.The Assembly of Experts is potentially Iran's most important institution. Consisting of learned Islamic scholars, it has the power to appoint a new supreme leader and can supervise or sack the existing one

  • ELECTRICITY: Sparking into life

    Algeria's electricity sector is slowly changing from a completely nationalised industry dominated by state power company Sonelgaz to one open to participation from international companies.

  • Emal smelter enters the bidding stage

    Emirates Aluminium (Emal) has begun the bidding process for a key contract on the multi-billion dollar grassroots aluminium complex at Taweelah.

  • Emirates to fly to Brazil

    Dubai-based carrier Emirates will launch its first non-stop service to South America in October with the start of six flights a week to Sao Paulo, Brazil. The 15-hour flight will be the first non-stop service between South America and the Gulf. It is part of a wider expansion effort by Gulf carriers (MEED 19:1:07, Cover Story).

  • Empire builds Reem tower

    Local developer Empire International Investments plans to build an AED 800 million ($218 million) residential tower at Shams Abu Dhabi Development on Reem island. Known as the Waterfront Residence, the 57-storey building is due for completion by mid-2009. Hong Kong-based Aedas is the consultant.

  • Eni awards upgrade work

    The local-Italian joint venture Eni Oil (formerly Agip Oil) has awarded two contracts to upgrade ageing facilities at the Bu Attifel field in the east Sirte basin.

  • Environment, Middle East to dominate Davos

    Concerns about climate change and tensions in the Middle East are expected to top the agenda of the World Economic Forum, which convened in Davos, Switzerland on 24 January. The five-day annual summit attracts business leaders, politicians and activists from around the globe. Trade ministers are expected to meet on the sidelines of the conference as part of an effort to jumpstart stalled global trade talks. The situation in Iraq as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

  • Environmental scheme kicks off

    Kuwait has launched a multi-million-dollar programme to rehabilitate the environmental damage caused by the 1990-91 Iraqi invasion and subsequent occupation. It will be funded by the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC), which has collected reparations from Baghdad over the past decade.

  • Escalation of Gaza violence

    Internal Palestinian tensions continued on 3 January as supporters of Fatah and Hamas fought gun battles in Gaza, which left at least one bystander dead and nine wounded. The fighting in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza had been triggered by the killing of a Fatah militant and the ambushing of a car carrying Hamas security operatives. The trouble follows Palestinian Authority President Abbas' call for early elections, although a date is yet to be set. Violence between

  • Europeans ramp up power investment

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an agreement, under its Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment & Partnership (Femip), to provide loans totalling Eur 310 million ($410 million) for power generation and gas projects.

  • Europeans ramp up power investment

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an agreement, under its Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment & Partnership (Femip), to provide loans totalling Eur 310 million ($410 million) for power generation and gas projects.

  • Execution of Saddam's co-defendants on film

    Iraqi officials on 15 January showed the video of the hanging of Barzan al-Tikriti and Awad al-Bandar to journalists. The footage shows the decapitation of Al-Tikriti, which officials say was accidental. 'I thought the convict Barzan al-Tikriti had escaped the noose,' public prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi told the BBC. 'I shouted that he's escaped the noose, go down and look for him. I went down a few steps ahead of the others to see: I found that his head had separated from his

  • Factional conflict delays soldier's release

    Ongoing tension between rival factions Hamas and Fatah is delaying the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in June 2006. The Army of Islam, one of the groups responsible for the kidnapping, said the two sides were exploiting the issue for their own political gains.'The issue of the captured soldier has become a political case for the sake of narrow factional interests,' the statement said. 'Muslims are being prevented

  • Fall continues on Moscow-Minsk deal

    Oil prices fell further in the third week of January, as US stocks built up and Russia resolved a dispute with Belarus over hydrocarbons supplies. However, OPEC seems to be ruling out any emergency meeting ahead of the next scheduled gathering in mid-March to tackle the falling prices. Spot Brent was trading at $51 a barrel on 17 January, compared with $52.44 a barrel a week earlier. Forecasters are predicting an imminent end to the unseasonab

  • Fall continues on Moscow-Minsk deal

    Oil prices fell further in the third week of January, as US stocks built up and Russia resolved a dispute with Belarus over hydrocarbons supplies. However, OPEC seems to be ruling out any emergency meeting ahead of the next scheduled gathering in mid-March to tackle the falling prices.

  • Fatah holds rally in West Bank

    Thousands of Fatah loyalists on 11 January held demonstrations in the West Bank as tensions with the rival Hamas faction flared. Palestinian Authority President Abbas called for calm. 'Gunfire into the air is rejected,' Abbas said. 'Gunfire against the friend, the neighbour and members of other factions is rejected too.' He added: 'We have raised our rifles against the occupation and that is a legitimate rightbut it is forbidden to raise rifles against each other.'

  • Filling Washington's Middle East policy gap with fudge

    The only good thing about what looked like the lynching of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is that it happened on 30 December. This meant it was a bad end to 2006 rather than a depressing start to 2007.

  • Finishing the job

    When it comes to making an impression, Algeria is doing everything it can to convince the outside world that it has put its troubles behind it and is ready to welcome international investors with open arms. An energy conference hosted at the end of November to showcase the country's hydrocarbons, mining and power industry potential attracted representatives from more than 170 companies and 30 countries, and a privatisation programme has been launched to attract private investment in more than 1,

  • Fire shuts down Shuaiba

    The state's smallest and oldest refinery, at Shuaiba, was hit by a fire on 17 January, causing disruption to operations. No-one was injured in the blaze, caused by an explosion on a leaking gas pipeline. It was the second incident at the refinery in recent months. In November, a blast in a heavy oil refining unit shut down operations for a week.

  • First power plant talks set to start

    Iran's Azarab Energy will start a first round of negotiations in early February with the Public Establishment of Electricity for Generation & Transmission (PEEGT) for the first independent power project in the country.Under discussion will be plans to build, own and operate a 450-MW, single-cycle power plant in Sweidieh in the northeast. Construction is expected to take 36 months and there is an option to convert the plant to combined cycle under the terms of the memorandum of understan

  • First tender issued on new air system

    The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation has tendered the first contract on its updated Kuwait airspace system plan. Three international contractors have been given until 4 March to bid for the design and construction of electrical infrastructure at Kuwait International Airport. They are Europe's ABB, Spain's Inabensa and Germany's Siemens. The contract is worth $50 million-100 million.

  • Fixed licences signed

    The two national fixed wireless services licences auctioned in late 2006 have been signed by Kuwait's MTC-Vodafone and the local Mena Telecom with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. The operators were the highest bidders at BD 5.5 million ($14.5 million) and BD 4.5 million ($11.8 million) respectively. However, one of the losing bidders, the local ATCO Clearwire Telecom, has filed a lawsuit contesting the awards.

  • Forum sets up joint business council

    The World Economic Forum, currently holding its annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, is creating an Israeli-Palestinian business council to stimulate foreign investment. Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the forum, said it was at an advanced stage. The announcement came as former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres called for the international business community to invest in the region, particularly in a proposed shared economic zone between Israel, Jordan an

  • Four consultants compete for Jeddah port expansion

    Four international companies have submitted bids for the design and engineering consultancy contract on the new Jeddah Islamic Port container terminal, planned by Saudi Trade & Export Development Company (Tusdeer). The bidders are Malaysia's Engineering & Environmental Consultants, Halcrow and Maunsell, both of the UK, and a Dutch/Malaysian team of Royal Haskoning and Sepakat Setia Perunding. A contract award is due by the end of January.

  • French assist on zones

    French tourist developers ODIT has signed a deal with the Tourism Ministry to undertake a 17-month long study into the development of tourism investment zones in two coastal areas, and the preparation of a masterplan for the 170-kilometre long area between Tobruk and the Egyptian border, where 17 potential zones have been identified. The deal also covers the development of the area in the west of the country between Sabratha and Telil and Melitah.

  • French build up Beirut Port

    France's CMA CGM has signed an agreement with Beirut Port Authority (BPA) to boost capacity at the port as it tries to turn itself into a transhipment hub.

  • Gaddafi upholds death sentence for six foreigners

    Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on 1 January that six foreigners sentenced to death for infecting children with the HIV/Aids virus must face their punishment.The six - five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor - have twice been found guilty of deliberately infecting more than 400 children in a Benghazi hospital.The country has come under intense pressure from the international community to overturn the sentence, but Gaddafi condemned 'western interve

  • Gates sees 'pivotal moment' for Iraq

    US Defence Secretary Robert Gates held talks with US and British troop commanders in Basra on 18 January. 'Whatever one's views on how we got to this point, here in Iraq at this pivotal moment, there is widespread agreement here that failure would be a calamity for American national interests and those of other countries as well,' Gates said after the talks. Gates' visit follows US President Bush's recent announcement that 21,500 extra troops were to be sent to the country, mai

  • GENERATION: New capacity needed

    The country has a challenging few years ahead if it is to keep pace with rapidly rising demand. Electricity demand growth in Algeria in 2005 was 8.4 per cent, compared with annual European growth rates of about 1-2 per cent, and the country's current low per capita consumption is likely to ensure that demand remains on a steep curve in years to come.

  • Germans/locals sign pump deal

    Germany's Ruhrpumpen has signed a contract with four local companies to produce pumps for the oil and gas industry, through the Ruhrpumpen/Egypt joint venture.

  • Global sets up in Khartoum

    Kuwait-based Global Investment House is to set up a new investment bank in Sudan, as Middle East investors eye up long-term opportunities in the country.

  • Global wins offshore work

    US-based Global Industries has been awarded a fabrication and installation contract covering a jacket, piles and topsides for an offshore gas exploration and production platform in Umm al-Qaiwain (UAQ). Worth $31 million, the contract will also entail the supply and installation of a 75-kilometre-long, 14-inch-diameter pipeline between the platform and a gas processing plant in neighbouring Ras al-Khaimah emirate. The facilities are planned to be installed by June 2007. The client is Dubai-based

  • Government sleaze clampdown continues

    The government's latest anti-corruption drive has been blocked by a local court, which has ruled that attempts to cancel build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts were illegal.

  • Government unveils uranium exploitation plan

    The National Resources Authority (NRA) is to start exploiting its uranium resources after King Abdullah announced Amman's intention to create a civil nuclear programme.

  • Group Five wins Dubai airport job

    Dubai's Department of Civil Aviation has awarded three contracts at Dubai International Airport and its Dubai World Central development in Jebel Ali.

  • Group Five wins Dubai airport job

    Dubai's Department of Civil Aviation has awarded three contracts at Dubai International Airport and its Dubai World Central development in Jebel Ali.At Dubai International Airport, South Africa's Group Five Middle East has started work on the estimated AED 263 million ($72 million) contract for the expansion of terminal 2. It involves structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and finishing works for an 80,000-square-metre extension and refurbishment of the existing 15,000-squ

  • Group wins airport desal

    The General Aviation Civil Authority has selected the consortium led by Athens-based Sete Technical Services to develop a desalination plant at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. The group, which includes the UK's Aquatech, Italy's WTD and the local Haji Abdullah Alireza & Company, was expected to win the contract after submitting the best technical and commercial proposals. The contract is on a 20-year build-operate-transfer basis (MEED 15:12:06).

  • Groups form for Fujairah 2

    Bidding groups are forming for the Fujairah 2 independent water and power project (IWPP) ahead of a bidders' conference to be held in Abu Dhabi in the third week of January.

  • Growth set to slow in 2007

    The growth rates of economies across the Middle East and North Africa will slow this year on the back of lower oil prices, according to a new report from Standard Chartered Bank.

  • Gulf monetary union: Currency countdown

    With only three years to go until monetary union, the governor of the Central Bank of the UAE Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi has expressed scepticism about the creation of an independent central bank for the GCC. Speaking only days after Muscat announced it was not prepared to meet the 2010 deadline for union, Al-Suwaidi acknowledged that the elimination of their own monetary authorities may be a step too far for many Gulf states.

  • Halliburton in supply deal

    The US' Halliburton has been awarded a KD 15 million ($51.7 million) contract to provide well completion equipment and associated services for Kuwait Oil Company. The five-year contract covers the provision of equipment including: alternative, gravel pack and sump packers; straddle and pack-off equipment; sub-surface flow control systems and safety equipment; redress kits; and hydrostatic set packers. (MEED 29:9:06).

  • Hamas accused of planning to murder Abbas

    Fatah on 16 January accused the rival Hamas faction of planning to assassinate Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other officials. A Fatah spokesperson said tunnels packed with explosives were uncovered in Gaza. 'Because of the gravity of this action, which we think represents malignant and premeditated intentions to assassinate leaders and symbols of Fatah and the authority, including Authority President Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] we in Fatah hold Hamas completely responsi

  • Hamas are murderers, says Fatah

    Gaza's Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan on 10 January labelled members of the rival Hamas faction murderers and thieves. 'They have lost the Palestinian street, which sees what they have become: a bunch of murderers and thieves who execute Fatah members,' Dahlan said. He added that the strong turnout of Fatah supporters at a rally on 7 January 'proved that Gaza is not theirs'.Hamas has accused Dahlan of bringing the Palestinian Territories close to civil war. 'We remain vigila

  • Hamas recognises Israel as fact

    Hamas' exiled political leader Khaled Meshal on 10 January appeared to accept Israel's existence as a fact. 'As a Palestinian today I speak of a Palestinian and Arab demand for a state on 1967 borders,' Meshaal said. 'It is true that in reality there will be an entity or state called Israel on the rest of Palestinian land. This is a reality but I won't deal with it in terms of recognizing or admitting it.' Hamas said Meshaal's comments did not constitute recognition of Israel.

  • Hamas supporters demonstrate against Dahlan

    Hamas loyalists flooded the streets of Gaza following Friday prayers on 12 January to express their anger towards Mohammed Dahlan, a senior Fatah official. The protesters accused Dahlan of planning a 'coup' against the Hamas government. In December, Hamas alleged Dahlan had masterminded a plan to assassinate Prime Minister Ismail Haniya. Fatah said Hamas was trying to escalate tensions by holding demonstrations. 'We urge Hamas to return to its senses before it is too late,

  • Hamas, Fatah clash

    At least five Hamas militants were wounded on 9 January after they clashed with rivals from Fatah. The latest fighting was triggered by the alleged kidnapping of five Hamas gunmen overnight. Fatah said the militants were arrested on suspicion of planning attacks. The men were later released.Also on 9 January, Hamas said three members of its 'Executive Force' were injured after Fatah gunmen attacked their vehicle. Fatah denied any involvement in the incident and accused Ham

  • Hardline approach from the US puts Tehran on the spot

    No country has enjoyed a bigger improvement in its strategic position since the 9/11 attacks than Iran. At practically no expense to itself, the Afghan Taliban government and Iraq's hated Baath Party regime have been deposed. Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Iran's greatest foe, has been tried, sentenced and hanged. Oil prices have doubled. And Tehran has advanced its atomic programme, a national goal since the time of the Shah.

  • Heineken buys into brewer

    The Netherlands' Heineken International has acquired 49.99 per cent of local brewer Societe de Production & de Distribution des Boissons (SPDB).Following the deal, which was announced in late December, the local company is set to invest Eur 27 million ($36 million) in the construction of a new brewery and in the brewing and distribution of Heineken products and local beers in the country.The brewery will be located in Grombalia, 30 kilometres from Tunis, and have an initial capac

  • Hollandi upgraded

    International rating agency Fitch has upgraded the issuer default rating of Saudi Hollandi Bank (SHB) to A- from BBB+ with a stable outlook. 'The upgrade reflects SHB's continued strong growth in underlying profitability, despite the significant impairment charge in Q2 06,' Fitch said in a statement. 'It also reflects the bank's increasing diversification into higher-margin retail banking.' Separately, Standard Chartered Bank is in talks to take over ABN Amro's 40 per cent shareholding in SHB.

  • Hotel tenders issued

    Local and international contractors have been invited to bid for contracts to build new hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The first, being tendered by Kuwait's Al-Aziziah United Real Estate Investment Company, is for the five-star, 300-room Crescent Hotel on Palm Jumeirah. Bids will close on 29 January. The second is the construction of the 360-room Gulf Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Contractors have until 8 February to bid. The client is Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company.

  • Housing authority opens up to international bidders

    The Public Authority for Housing Welfare is opening up its multi-billion-dollar housing programme to international contractors for the first time.

  • HSBC buys Flip stake

    HSBC Private Equity Middle East has acquired a stake in Dubai-based Flip Media Investments (FMI). FMI is the holding company for digital media consultancy Flip Media, online marketing agency Neo Digital and two software companies. It has operations in Bahrain, India and Germany, as well as the UAE.

  • HSBC wins refinery work

    HSBC has been appointed financial adviser on the merger of Oman Refinery Company with Sohar Refinery Company (SRC) and the restructuring of their combined $1,400 million debt. The process is due to be completed during the first half of the year. Options include refinancing, renegotiating or a combination of the two, and replacing all or part of the borrowings.

  • Huge hospital on the way

    The Ministry of Public Works has invited 21 local contractors to submit bids by 18 February for the contract to carry out site preparation works for the South Surra hospital, which, with 1,050 beds, will be the state's largest. The local/US team of Gulf Consult and the US' Langdon Wilson is the design consultant. The tender for the main construction package will be issued towards the end of the year (MEED 12:1:07, Tenders).

  • Hunt in dispute over block 18

    Yemen Exploration & Production Company (YEPC), a US joint venture of Hunt Oil and ExxonMobil Corporation, has filed arbitration at the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce against the government over the removal of YEPC as operator of block 18, located in the Marib basin.

  • Huntsman seeks financing for Jubail joint venture

    US-based Huntsman has launched a beauty parade of local banks as it seeks funding to support its joint venture with Al-Zamil Group in Jubail.

  • Hussain denies retirement plans

    The office of Hani Hussain, managing director and deputy chairman of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), has denied media reports that he will retire early from the job and leave the company in March.

  • HYDROCARBONS: Spurring development

    The government's aim of increasing oil production to 2 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2010 from about 1.4 million b/d in 2006 has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks. Reports are circulating that state energy company Sonatrach is conducting a review of its targets that may see it reduced to nearer 1.6 million b/d. Sonatrach officials have steadfastly denied the rumours, but the consensus is that it would be a realistic reappraisal of an ambitious target.

  • Hyundai takes substation

    South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company has been awarded the KD 19.4 million ($67 million) contract to build the 300/132-kV Green Zone W substation. Hyundai was low bidder for the contract when bids were submitted last summer. The client is the Ministry of Energy (Electricity & Water - MEED 15:9:06).

  • IAEA calls for non-proliferation

    International Atomic Energy Agency secretary-general Mohammed El-Baradei warned that nuclear weapons held by nine countries could 'end life as we know it'. However, he did not name the countries in question.Speaking at a conference in Algeria, El-Baradei called for a world free of nuclear weapons. 'We should always remember that the goal of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a world free from nuclear weapons,' Baradei said. 'We now have nine countries that possess nucle

  • IAEA envoys to visit Iran's nuclear sites

    Tehran has invited envoys from developing nations to visit its nuclear sites, according to reports on 17 January. Iran has called on officials from the Non-Aligned Movement of developing nations attached to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Group of 77 as well as representatives of the Arab League to visit the country from 2-6 February.Gregory Schulte, US ambassador to the IAEA, said Tehran should instead allow UN inspectors t

  • Imidro tenders first two units for Kahnuj pigment works

    Iran Mines & Mineral Industries Development & Renovation Organisation (Imidro) has issued a tender for the first two units of its Kahnuj pigment complex.

  • Indians in refinery talks

    India's Essar Group is in talks with National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Company (NIORDC) to build a greenfield petrol refinery in Iran and might win upstream gas development rights in return for a $2,000 million investment. A steel project in Bandar Abbas could follow, powered by any gas discovered. Iran suffers from a shortfall in refining capacity, producing around half the petrol it consumes. The talks are also part of a wider economic flirtation between the Islamic republic and its

  • Industry calls for Algerie Telecom privatisation

    The part-privatisation of state telecoms operator Algerie Telecom (AT), estimated to be worth up to $3,000 million, must proceed as quickly as possible in order to address problems in the company and prevent its competitors establishing a dominant market position, industry experts have warned.

  • Injection prices pending

    Four commercial bids are due on 15 January for the estimated Eur 70 million ($91 million) contract to build a power plant to drive water injection pumps on the Al-Feel water re-injection project. The bidders are Cyprus-based Joannou & Paraskevaides, Germany's MAN Ferrostaal and Bonatti and Techint, both of Italy. An award is expected by the end of March.

  • Inquest begins into Dubai skyscraper fire

    An investigation started on 19 January to look into the cause of a fire at a skyscraper on the Jumeirah Lake Towers construction site in Dubai. At least two labourers died and up to 57 were injured when a fire broke out at around 12:30pm local time, trapping workers who tried to climb down the outside of the building; at least one also fell to his death from the 37-storey building. 'Fire started in the electricity and sewage pipes in the upper floors starting from the 31st

  • Insurance IPOs approved

    The Capital Market Authority (CMA) has approved the timing of the stock market listing of two out of the 13 insurance companies granted licences to operate in the kingdom.

  • Investcorp returns to roots

    Investcorp is to begin raising funds within a month for an investment vehicle targeting Gulf companies, marking the Bahrain-based institution's first major push within the region.

  • Investcorp spree goes on

    Investcorp has agreed to acquire UK-based Moody International from Close Brothers Private Equity in a deal worth $311 million. Moody is a provider of inspection and personnel services to the oil and gas, construction and mining sectors and is seeking to expand in the Gulf. Investcorp also recently bought Germany's Armacell International and the US' Greatwide (MEED 22:12:06).

  • Iran and Syria: Limits of the alliance

    Events over the past six months - from the month-long conflict between Hizbollah and Israel to the publication of the long-awaited Iraq Study Group (ISG) report - have demonstrated that Syria and Iran remain key political players in the Middle East. Yet the recommendations of the ISG to reopen a dialogue with Damascus and Tehran have inevitably stirred up controversy in the US. Syria and Iran have had a longstanding alliance over the past 28 years, and have pursued largely anti-American polic

  • Iran courting Beijing

    Three eye-catching energy deals have turned the buzz around Chinese investment in Iran into something approaching a frenzy. Western countries fear the deals could become the centrepiece of a new energy relationship that will make it harder for them to press the Islamic republic over its nuclear programme and finance a government they dislike.

  • Iran moves forward on enrichment

    Tehran on 15 January said it was continuing work on its nuclear programme. 'We are moving towards production of nuclear fuel which needs 3,000 centrifuges and more,' government spokesperson Gholamhossein Elham said. 'This plan is going ahead and is moving towards completion. We need to produce fuel on an industrial scale for [our] power plants.' The comments came despite a UN Security Council resolution banning the supply of nuclear technology and material to the Islamic r

  • Iran says diplomats were kidnapped

    Tehran has accused the US of kidnapping five diplomats from the Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil. Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazimi Qomi, said the arrests on 11 January were a 'violation of Iraqi sovereignty and an insult to the Iraqi people'. 'These actions are against international conventions which guarantee diplomatic immunity and they are also against the framework of the agreement between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran,' Qomi told the BBC on 18 Ja

  • Iranian bank blacklisted by US

    The US on 9 January added Bank Sepah to its blacklist of Iranian companies, accusing it of financing a nuclear weapons programme. 'Bank Sepah is the financial lynchpin of Iran's missile procurement network and has actively assisted Iran's pursuit of missiles capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction,' US Treasury undersecretary Stuart Levey said. He added that the bank had facilitated an agreement with Korean Mining Development Corporation, which the US believes provided

  • Iranian contractors: Built to succeed

    Private Iranian contractors have to be very competitive to win contracts in the Islamic republic.

  • Iraq backs detained Iranians

    Iraq's Foreign Affairs Minister Hoshyar Zebari on 12 January said the Iranian liaison office in Irbil which was stormed by US troops a day earlier did not yet have consular diplomatic status, but had been operating for years with Baghdad's approval. 'We contacted the US embassy and submitted all the information available to us on the nature of their work and the place of their work,' Zebari said. 'They have been working under the approval of the government.' The US insists that the missi

  • Iraq will not back down over executions

    Baghdad will execute Saddam Hussein's half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and former chief judge Awad al-Bandar despite international calls for restraint, a senior Iraqi official told the BBC on 4 January. 'Nobody can stop the carrying out of court verdicts,' Sami al-Askari said. 'The court's statute does not allow even the president of the republic or the prime minister to commute sentences, let alone grant a pardon. Therefore, no pressure can stop the executions.' UN High Com

  • Iraqi parliament backs Baghdad security plan

    Iraq's parliament on 25 January voted to support Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's new security plan for the capital. MPs loyal to the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr were among those who backed the proposal. The initiative will target insurgents and militants, including members of the Mehdi army allied to Al-Sadr. Up to 50,000 Iraqi police and troops backed by 30,000 US soldiers will comb through the capital in search of armed militias.'All those who bre

  • Islands study in preparation

    The Mega Projects Agency (MPA) is preparing a new consultancy contract on the planned Failaka and Bubiyan island schemes.

  • Israel transfers funds to Abbas

    Tel Aviv on 18 January said it would transfer $100 million in withheld funds to the Palestinians within a day. The money, which has been earmarked for humanitarian and security purposes, will be given to Palestinian Authority President Abbas rather than to the Hamas-led government. It will not go towards paying the salaries of Palestinian public sector workers. Israeli officials said Abbas' office had opened an account to receive the funds. Israel had held nearly $500 mill

  • Israel, Syria deny talks

    A former Israeli diplomat has said that Israel and Syria have held secret peace talks. Alon Liel told Israel's Haaretz newspaper he had taken part in all the meetings of his own accord. Tel Aviv stressed that it had not sanctioned any negotiations. Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stressed that there was no government participation in the talks. 'No-one in the government was involved in this matter,' Olmert said. 'It was a private initiative on the part of an individual w

  • Israeli president refuses to resign

    Israeli President Moshe Katsav on 24 January vowed not to resign following the decision by Israeli Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz to indict the president on charges of alleged rape and sexual harassment. 'I never hurt any man or any woman,' said Katsav, speaking to a press conference in Jerusalem. 'The charges against me have nothing to do with reality,' Katsav said. 'When the truth emerges, the citizens of Israel will be shocked.' The president said that he had nothing t

  • Israeli troops enter Ramallah

    Clashes broke out in Ramallah after Israeli forces raided the West Bank administrative centre on 4 January. At least one person was killed and 14 more injured. Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers cordoned off streets in the centre of the town, which houses the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority. The Associated Press quoted a Palestinian security official as saying the raid had targeted a leading member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade.

  • Israelis, Palestinians call for direct negotiations

    Palestinian and Israeli officials have called for direct negotiations and a final status agreement within two years. Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Israeli Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh said a deal was a necessary step towards forging an alliance of moderates in the region. Speaking in Davos, Switzerland, Sneh said: 'It may take six months to conclude these principles and another 18 months to iron out the details.''There is no need of mediatio

  • Istithmar buys Thai

    Two regional hospitality companies have bought significant stakes in Thai real estate developer Raimon Land Public Company. Istithmar Hotels, the hospitality arm of Dubai-based investment house Istithmar, has bought a 25 per cent stake in the Thai operation. The purchase is Istithmar's second Thai venture following its acquisition of share in Bumrungrad Hospital. Kuwait's IFA Hotels & Resorts has also purchased a stake in Raimon Land, which is its first in Thailand and part of its plans to expan

  • Jacobs consults on Gulf Farabi

    The US' Jacobs Engineering has been awarded the contract to provide front-end engineering and project supervision services for the planned Gulf Farabi Petrochemical Companybenzene recovery unit in Jubail.

  • Jebel Ali infrastructure let

    The local Ghantoot Roads Contracting has been awarded the AED 141 million ($38 million) infrastructure contract for the expansion of Jebel Ali free zone. The 13-month project, covering the new south area, involves roadworks and all associated infrastructure. Lebanon's Khatib & Alami is the consultant. The client is the local Dubai Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation.

  • Jeddah terminal work scaled back

    Riyadh has been forced to scale back its plans at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah after bids for the contract came in over budget. Saudi Binladin Group won the first contract of the Rush scheme to overhaul facilities at the north and south terminals in January, with a bid of SR 495 million ($132 million).However, it has emerged that Binladin's contract is more limited than had been intended, after the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) underestimated the cost of t

  • Jizan plant gets start date

    The developer of the kingdom's second world-scale grassroots aluminium complex has confirmed construction is to begin by the end of the fourth quarter.

  • Joint venture formed

    Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) has formed a new polystyrene joint venture (JV) with Turkey's Baser Petrokimya. Sabic will hold 70 per cent of the new company, with Baser owning the remainder. The JV will take over all of Baser's polystyrene assets in Turkey, including an Adana-based plant with production capacity of 40,000 tonnes a year.

  • Journalists on trial for defamation

    The trial of two journalists opened in Morocco on 8 January. Driss Ksikes and Sanaa al-Aji, an editor and reporter of Nichane magazine, stand accused of defaming Islam and harming public morality after they wrote an article about religious jokes. Rabat responded to the article by closing down the magazine.The defendants could face up to five years in jail and fines if they are found guilty. They have issued a public apology, but say they were not ridiculing religion.

  • Jubail finance progresses

    The local/US joint venture National ChevronPhillips Company (NCP) is preparing to issue details on the $2,100 million financing of its planned petrochemicals complex at Jubail by the end of January.

  • Jubail to get aromatics unit

    The $6,000 million new refinery in Jubail will now include an aromatics unit. 'The option was there from the beginning to have a aromatics unit to sell paraxylene locally, and this option has recently been taken up,' says a project source. 'But we won't go any further downstream as it doesn't make economic sense.'

  • Kharafi takes Waqf tower

    The local Al-Kharafi Construction has won the main construction package on the Abdulaziz al-Babtain Cultural Waqf tower in the Sharq district of Kuwait City. The scope of works on the estimated KD 25 million ($86 million) contract involves the construction of a 42-storey commercial office tower and car park on Ahmed al-Jaber street (MEED 17:3:06).

  • Kharafi takes Waqf tower

    The local Al-Kharafi Construction has won the main construction package on the Abdulaziz al-Babtain Cultural Waqf tower in the Sharq district of Kuwait City. The scope of works on the estimated KD 25 million ($86 million) contract involves the construction of a 42-storey commercial office tower and car park on Ahmed al-Jaber street (MEED 17:3:06).

  • Khartoum bids opened

    Saudi Binladin Group is low bidder for the estimated $530 million Khartoum New International Airport project after the opening of prices. Turkey's TAV is ranked second on price, followed in third place by an unidentified Chinese contractor. The 42-month engineering, procurement and construction contract covers the core facilities of the greenfield airport, located at Omdurman, 40 kilometres southwest of the capital. Germany's Dorsch Consult is the project manager (MEED 1:12:06).

  • King Fahd port set to grow

    Riyadh is pushing ahead with plans to expand King Fahd Industrial Port, which will service the Jubail II infrastructure development.

  • Kureimat civils awarded

    The local Arab Contractors (Osman Ahmed Osman & Company) has been awarded the civil works package on the 750-MW Kureimat 3 project for£E 460 million ($80.4 million). The duration is 32 months. Four local companies were competing for the contract. The client is Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (MEED 8:12:06).

  • Kuwaiti royal gets death sentence

    A member of the Kuwaiti royal family was sentenced to death on 14 January, according to reports from the country. A judge found Sheikh Talal Nasser al-Sabah guilty of drug trafficking, saying he had 'willingly walked the path of evil'. He also received a $35,000 fine. It is unclear how closely related Sheikh Talal is to the ruling family. Three people - a Bedouin, a Bangladeshi and an Indian - were sentenced to life in prison in connection with the same offence. A Lebanese

  • Lagoon sukuk flies

    The sukuk issue for the local Al-Ahlia Investment Company closed oversubscribed in late December. The facility, which has a tenor of five years callable in two, was increased in size to $200 million from $125 million. The issue was lead managed by Liquidity Management Centre, which was joined by 15 other banks. The funds will be used for the Lagoon City portion of the Al-Khiran Pearl City development.

  • Landmark projects in doubt

    The fate of the state's two landmark infrastructure projects, the multi-billion-dollar Failaka island and Bubiyan port developments, are in the balance after the exit of the key programme management consultant and continuing delays in the contracting process.Three local groups submitted proposals last June for the estimated KD 600 million ($2,069 million) Failaka tourist development. However, the client, the Mega Projects Agency (MPA), has yet to release the results (MEED 9:6:06).

  • Lebanese opposition escalates protests

    Hundreds of opposition supporters staged a protest against proposed economic reforms outside a Finance Ministry tax office in central Beirut on 9 January. The demonstration was organised by the labour union confederation and was backed by Hezbollah and its allies, including the Shia Amal Movement and Christian leader Michel Aoun. Lebanese army commander Michel Suleiman warned that the military would not tolerate any disturbances after labour union leader Ghassan Ghosn urge

  • Lebanese opposition to intensify protests

    Lebanon's opposition camp on 8 January backed calls by the country's largest labour union to take part in a sit-down demonstration outside a Finance Ministry office a day later. 'The opposition adopts the call to protest in front of the VAT office tomorrowand calls on all Lebanese to participate in it,' said a statement read by former minister Talal Arsalan. 'The opposition has also decided to escalate its popular movements and turn [the] protest into a daily escalation that extends to a

  • Lebanese unions end protests

    Lebanon's labour unions on 11 January stopped their protests against the government's economic reform plans. 'We just want to take a rest today,' union chief Ghassan Ghosn told Reuters. Hezbollah, which backed the two-day long demonstrations, said it would escalate its own efforts to bring about the fall of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's cabinet.'Within the next two weeks there will be several important and different movements we will have movements that will include all t

  • Lebanese weigh up British Mediterranean

    Lebanon's M1 Group, managed by the Mikati family, is part of a consortium looking to take a majority shareholding in British Mediterranean Airways (BMED).

  • Lebanon promised $7.6bn in aid at Paris conference

    Lebanon has received pledges of $7.6bn in aid and loans on the opening day of the Paris donors' conference.The conference is designed to raise funds to rebuild the country's infrastructure in the wake of last summer's war between Hezbollah and Israel. The money is vital for Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's reform programme.However, it has taken place against a backdrop of violent clashes around Lebanon and a national strike led by opposition groups unhappy wit

  • Libya finalises bid round results

    National Oil Corporation (NOC) on 24 December finalised awards under its third oil and gas licensing round. On 20 December, single bids from the US' ExxonMobil Corporation, India's ONGC Videsh and Japan's Inpex with Mitsui & Company were received for three areas. NOC approved the bids and awarded concessions on one offshore and two onshore areas. ExxonMobil was awarded a 22.3 per cent production share in four wells in offshore area 20. ONGC took a 28 per cent share in one offsh

  • Libya plans Saddam statue

    Tripoli on 4 January announced it will erect a statue of Saddam Hussein alongside that of a national hero. 'The revolutionary committees have decided to erect a statue of Saddam Hussein standing beside Omar Mukhtar on the gallows,' the Libyan government said in a statement. Mukhtar was hanged in 1931 for fighting against the Italian occupation. Tripoli declared three days of mourning after Saddam was executed on 30 December.

  • LIBYA: Changing course

    In 2006, Libya topped Fugro Robertson's International New Ventures Survey for the second year in a row. With ambitious plans to increase oil production from 1.7 million barrels a day (b/d) to 2 million b/d by 2010 and 3 million b/d by 2015 and ample exploration opportunities, it would appear that Libya has much to offer international oil companies (IOCs). But the results of the country's latest licensing round suggest a policy change could be needed to capitalise on this international interest.

  • Light relief

    It is not unusual for drivers heading into Dubai from neighbouring Abu Dhabi to see an apparent change in the weather. After miles of clear skies, a couple of clouds appear on the horizon near the border. Twenty kilometres further on and the source of the brownish haze becomes apparent: the Jebel Ali power complex that overlooks Shaikh Zayed road.

  • Loans write-off rejected

    The National Assembly (parliament) has rejected a draft bill that would have written off all commercial loans owed by nationals. By 39 to 20, members of parliament rejected the bill, which the government says would have cost it more than $4,000 million. Its supporters argue that record oil revenues enable the state to ease its citizens' debt burden. Its opponents say it would only encourage people to take out more loans.

  • Local bank boosts capital

    Commercial Bank International will double its capital to AED 1,000 million ($272 million) from AED 478 million ($130 million). The new capital will be raised from existing shareholders and will finance its retail banking expansion plans. The bank is also establishing a AED 100 million ($27 million) corporate finance and asset management company in the UAE with Egyptian financial services company Naeem Holding (MEED 22:12:06).

  • Local/UK joint venture plans oil shale extraction

    Jordan Energy & Mining (JEM), a local/UK joint venture, plans to produce shale oil and a low-grade fuel for electric power generation from surface oil shale deposits in the Al-Lajoun block, in the west.

  • Local/UK joint venture plans oil shale extraction

    Jordan Energy & Mining (JEM), a local/UK joint venture, plans to produce shale oil and a low-grade fuel for electric power generation from surface oil shale deposits in the Al-Lajoun block, in the west.JEM will complete a conceptual study in March into the commercial viability of extracting the deposits. 'From April to June, we hope to finalise a concession agreement with the government,' says Chris Morgan, chairman of JEM.The full feasibility study, which began in November 2006,

  • Local/US team wins study

    A US/local team of Parsons Brinckerhoff and Kuwait Technical Consulting Bureau has won the contract to create a new transport model for the state.Under the 14-month contract, the group will carry out traffic surveys and update planning and forecasting parameters.The study will cover all forms of transport, including road, rail, air and shipping. The client is Kuwait Municipality (MEED 23:6:06). The winning team beat off competition from three other international consultants.

  • Locals bid low for pipeline

    The local Combined Group is low bidder at KD 17.9 million ($62 million) for the C4 third-phase package on the Subiya water storage and distribution scheme. Kuwait Arab Contractors has submitted the second best offer of KD 18.3 million ($63 million), followed by the local Canar Trading & Contracting at KD 18.5 million ($64 million). The contract covers the installation and maintenance of a 59-kilometre-long, 1.2-metre-diameter water pipeline from Mutlaa al-Aali to the West Funaitees water distrib

  • Locals to design tower

    The local Nabil Gholam Architecture & Planning is carrying out the schematic design for a new high-rise tower in the Beirut central district. To be called Parc Clemenceau, the estimated $22 million, 21-storey tower will have a total built-up area of 11,000 square metres and will be built in the Ain Mreisseh area. It is Middle East Capital Group's second development in the city following its Park Hill development in Ashrafieh (MEED 3:6:05).

  • Losing value

    The Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was one of the first people to argue that 'economic evolution demands the abolition of national frontiers', in a speech advocating European union in 1917. The idea has had many unlikely champions since. Equally, it has just as many opponents. More than a decade after the birth of the EU, the wisdom of the experiment is still hotly debated within most European member states.With a deadline for monetary union fast approaching, the same argument is

  • Losing value

    The Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was one of the first people to argue that 'economic evolution demands the abolition of national frontiers', in a speech advocating European union in 1917. The idea has had many unlikely champions since. Equally, it has just as many opponents. More than a decade after the birth of the EU, the wisdom of the experiment is still hotly debated within most European member states.

  • Lulu buildings out to bid

    Bids are due by 30 March for the first buildings contract on the Lulu Island resort project, under construction off the coast of Manama. The work covers nine villas and 50 chalets. Project costs are now estimated at $1,200 million. The local Ahmed Mansour al-A'ali is carrying out the infrastructure contract at the resort. The client is Lulu Tourism Company, a joint venture of the government and a group of private investors (MEED 11:8:06).

  • Major prizes

    The last 12 months have been a golden period for the oil industry in the Middle East. Crude prices rode through a series of peaks in 2006, well above the $60-a-barrel line. Although the mild winter in the northern hemisphere has calmed the market, most producers will continue to enjoy benign conditions in the year ahead (see Oil Markets, pages 32-34). A healthy flow of oil and gas revenues should ensure most national oil industries can get to grips with the strong demands being made on their res

  • Malaysians to build tower

    Malaysia's Zelan Contracting has been awarded the AED 318 million ($87 million) main construction contract for a 45-storey building in Dubai Technology e-Commerce & Media Free Zone (Tecom). Sidra tower will have serviced apartments, offices and retail space. Completion is expected in December 2008. The project manager is the local Arcan Project Management Services; Architecture & Planning Group, also local, is the consultant. The client is a private developer.

  • Maliki seeks exit

    Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has made clear in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he wishes to step down as prime minister before his term ends.'I wish I could be done with it even before the end of this term,' he said. 'I didn't want to take this position. I only agreed because I thought it would serve the national interest, and I will not accept it again.' Maliki was sworn in as prime minister for a four year term last May after Sunni and Kurdish parties

  • Manama backs power plant

    The cabinet on 7 January gave the go-ahead for plans for the kingdom's next private power project. A committee of officials from the Ministry of Electricity & Water (MEW) and the Finance Ministry will be established to study the details of the scheme.

  • Marafiq power signed

    The three-strong consortium led by Belgium's Suez Energy International signed on 16 January the power and water purchase agreement for the Jubail independent water and power project, planned by the Power & Water Utility Company for Jubail & Yanbu (Marafiq). Financial close for the 2,750-MW, 176 million-gallon-a-day co-generation plant is due in late March (MEED 22:12:06).

  • Market in focus: Iran: Bucking the trend

    In a nation with a reputation for going its own way, the Tehran Stock Exchange fits the national stereotype. Unlike other bourses across the region that have plunged in 2007, the Tepix index is enjoying a recovery.

  • MARKET IN FOCUS: MOROCCO: Analysts at odds over market prospects

    Growth of an estimated 55-70 per cent on the Casablanca markets in 2006 has prompted a polarised response from analysts, with some counselling investors to avoid what they see as an overheated market and others claiming the exchange is a fair reflection of both share value and the kingdom's underlying economic performance.

  • market in focus: saudi arabia: Plumbing new depths

    The kingdom's stock market has continued its 2006 losing streak into 2007, with another notional floor - 8,000 points - breached in January on the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI). Stock prices slumped by almost 10 per cent in the first two weeks of the year, as investors reacted to trading being suspended in a former favourite stock and weak company results.

  • market in focus: saudi arabia: Plumbing new depths

    The kingdom's stock market has continued its 2006 losing streak into 2007, with another notional floor - 8,000 points - breached in January on the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI). Stock prices slumped by almost 10 per cent in the first two weeks of the year, as investors reacted to trading being suspended in a former favourite stock and weak company results.In spite of valuations now considered reasonable by emerging market standards, analysts say that prices could fall further.Th

  • MARKET IN FOCUS: UAE: Hopes rise for the new year

    The new year on the UAE bourses got off to an inauspicious start when the Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority (ESCA) banned two brokerages from trading. The action sounds yet another sour note in the chorus of negative sentiment that has undermined trading on the federation's two bourses. 'It's not a happy beginning to the year,' says Emirates Securities managing director Mohammed Ali Yasin.

  • market round-up: Markets resist downwards movement

    Oil prices halted their downward slide in the last week of January, showing possible signs of new resistance to further falls just days ahead of OPEC's planned 500,000-barrel-a-day (b/d) cut in production. Spot Brent was trading at $54.60 on 24 January, compared with $51 a week earlier, as doubts continued over the need for the cuts.

  • market round-up: Markets resist downwards movement

    Oil prices halted their downward slide in the last week of January, showing possible signs of new resistance to further falls just days ahead of OPEC's planned 500,000-barrel-a-day (b/d) cut in production. Spot Brent was trading at $54.60 on 24 January, compared with $51 a week earlier, as doubts continued over the need for the cuts.

  • Maroctel buys into Africa

    Maroc Telecom acquired at the end of December a 51 per cent stake in Onatel, the state-owned telecoms company of Burkina Faso.

  • Mashreqbank begins 2007 with international bonds

    Mashreqbank has appointed JP Morgan and UBS to arrange a subordinated debt issue to boost its tier II capital base. Roadshows are due to begin on 11 January and will travel to Europe and Asia. In common with other such issues, the notes will have a tenor of 10 years,callable in five.

  • Mashreqbank begins 2007 with international bonds

    Mashreqbank has appointed JP Morgan and UBS to arrange a subordinated debt issue to boost its tier II capital base. Roadshows are due to begin on 11 January and will travel to Europe and Asia. In common with other such issues, the notes will have a tenor of 10 years,callable in five.

  • Mashreqbank bond priced

    A $500 million bond from Mashreqbank has been priced at 62 basis points (bp), with a launch spread of 99.8 bp. It is the latest issue from the bank's long-established euro medium-term note programme. It is rated A3 by Moody's Investors Service and A- by Fitch Ratings. It has a tenor of 10 years, callable in five. JP Morgan and UBS acted as lead managers. The first issue from the $5,000 million programme of Dubai Holding was given an A+ rating by Standard & Poor's on 23 January.

  • Mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractors: The hidden matrix

    Underneath the gleaming facades of the Gulf's new buildings, a more significant change is taking place.

  • Medgaz construction phase follows investment decision

    The Medgaz project company has committed to invest Eur 900 million ($1,170 million) in the development of the 210-kilometre-long subsea gas pipeline linking Algeria with Spain. The construction phase was launched after the signing of the final investment decision in late December, at which a new shareholding structure was announced.

  • Middle East contracts awarded: January 2007

    Over $6billion worth of contracts were awarded across the Middle East region in January, according to this selected checklist compiled from MEED reports throughout the month.

  • Mild weather leads to New Year price lull

    Oil prices dropped slightly in the first week of 2007, with mild weather in the US having the biggest impact over the quiet festive period. With the holidays producing little for markets to react to, the weather proved to be the best indicator of the price direction for traders.

  • Mining permits to attract interest

    Algiers on 8 January issued tenders for 18 mineral prospecting permits that could be among the most attractive in the world. At least 100 bids are expected for the concessions, the bulk of which are for gold, copper and lead/zinc deposits.

  • Ministry keeps promises

    The Health Ministry has launched the first of several projects capitalising on the government's increased health expenditure. Local firms have been invited to submit bids to build a new paediatric and maternity complex in Riyadh. The 10-storey building will take about 24 months to complete. The government announced a 27 per cent increase to SR 39,500 million ($10,533 million) in health spending as part of its 2007 budget.

  • Mixed signals for Cairo

    Privitisation and booming foreign direct investment will drive continued economic growth, according to a new report, despite inflation tripling over the last year.Inflation hit an annual rate of 12.4 per cent in December, according to the latest report by the Central Agency for Mobilization & Public Statistics (Capmas), compared to 3.1 per cent in the previous year. It could lead to a further hike in interest rates by the Central Bank at its next meeting on 1 February.The bank ra

  • Mobily finance launched

    A request for proposals has been sent to banks on the refinancing of the debt package to fund the acquisition of the second mobile licence in Saudi Arabia by a consortium led by the UAE's Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat), known as Mobily. The value of the deal is just under $3,000 million and the fresh funds will replace a $2,350 million bridge loan taken out in 2004. The financing will include various tranches, with the longest tenor being six years. Citigroup and Samba Financ

  • Moody's bolsters Amman rating

    Moody's Investors Service has upgraded Amman's sovereign rating from negative to stable. The upgrade comes as a result of increased confidence in the kingdom's ability to deal with its current account deficit and the government's fiscal measures.

  • More packages approach for El-Tebbine

    Cairo Electricity Production Company (CEPC) is evaluating bids for two packages on the 650-MW El-Tebbine steam power plant as it prepares for the tender issue on one more package, the shortlist for another and the submission of bids on four more.

  • More troops welcome, says Baghdad

    The Iraqi government said it would welcome the deployment of more US troops in Baghdad as US President Bush was due to reveal his new Iraq strategy on 10 January. 'The Iraqi government does not object to an increase in coalition forces,' government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. 'The Iraqi government supports this trend.' Bush is expected to send an additional 20,000 soldiers to the country.Fierce fighting broke out between US and Iraqi troops and Sunni insurgents in centr

  • Mortgages hit billion target

    The local Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA) announced in mid-January that mortgage lending had topped£E 1,000 million ($175 million) for 2006, meeting the target set by chairman Osama Saleh.Among the most notable areas was the growth in total finance volumes by more than£E 350 million ($61.3 million) in the final three months of 2006. Saleh now expects this figure to grow by 400 per cent in 2007. The trend has been accelerated by the continued entry of new firms into the lending market an

  • Mubadala to enter Africa

    Abu Dhabi government-owned Mubadala Development Company is set to enter the African telecommunications sector, having been granted a unified access service licence by the Nigerian government. Awarded as part of a bilateral agreement between Nigeria and the UAE, Mubadala will pay $400 million for the state's fifth licence. Mubadala's other main telecommunications investment is a 20 per cent stake in the UAE's second operator, du (MEED 27:1:06).

  • Mubarak hosts King Abdullah

    Jordan's King Abdullah and Egyptian President Mubarak on 10 January met in Cairo to discuss the situation in the Middle East, prior to a planned visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region. Rice is due to begin her week-long tour on 12 January. Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the two leaders had discussed ways to end the violence between rival Palestinian factions and resume peace negotiations with Israel. Aboul Gheit said that ag

  • Mumtalakat buys McLaren

    Government-owned Mumtalakat Holding Company has acquired 30 per cent of the UK-based McLaren Group, which runs the Formula One motor-racing team. It is its first investment since it was set up last year as the umbrella for all the government's corporate holdings.

  • Mushrif takes Kabad treatment

    The local Mushrif Trading & Contracting Company has received a letter of intent for the contract to design and build the Kabad wastewater treatment plant.

  • Nakilat general syndication nears

    General syndication is about to be launched of the $2,216 million bank tranche of the $4,300 million first-phase financing programme of Qatar Gas Transportation Company (Nakilat). Ticket sizes for the mandated lead arrangers (MLAs) have also been finalised (see table).

  • NETWORKS: Mainline development

    Tehran-Qom-Isfahan express: the Tehran-Qom connection is already complete, but work on the onward 280-kilometre link to Isfahan has not yet started. The upgrade will greatly improve journey times between Isfahan and the capital.Isfahan-Shiraz: the 505-kilometre link will service an estimated 4 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo a year. The line could later be extended to Bushehr and Assaluyeh ports.Kerman-Zahedan: the 545-kilometre line will connect Iran's main netw

  • New airline launched

    A new national carrier, Mauritania Airways, was created in late December in an agreement between Nouakchott, the local Bouamatou Group and Tunisian national carrier Tunisair. The airline, which will be the second national airline alongside flag carrier Air Mauritanie, will provide national and international air services. Tunisair will take a 51 per cent controlling stake.

  • New banking rules draw near

    The Central Bank of the UAE is introducing new regulations which should lead to more investment and merchant banks, as part of an ongoing drive to improve the banking system.

  • New bid for Aden

    Singapore-based Overseas Port Management (OPM) has submitted a bid for the concession to run Aden Container Terminal (ACT), throwing into further doubt the controversial selection of Dubai-based DP World (DPW) for the contract in 2005.

  • New effort to revive Nasiriyah refinery project

    The Oil Ministry has held meetings with international engineering companies for a key contract on the Nasiriyah refinery project, eight months after bids were first submitted for the 300,000-barrel-a-day grassroots project.

  • New finance HQ planned

    The Finance Ministry is pressing ahead with plans to build a new headquarters building in Riyadh. Contractors have been given until 5 February to bid for the estimated SR 400 million ($107 million) contract. Located in the capital's Al-Nakheel area, the project centres on the construction of an administrative building with a conference centre. The consultant is the local Ahmad al-Rashid al-Humaid Consulting Engineers.

  • New fund gets advisers

    Abu Dhabi-based CERT (Centre of Excellence for Applied Research & Training) has picked Dubai-based Alpen Capital and Corecap as financial advisers on its $100 million venture capital fund. Cert Capital, CERT's investment management arm, will oversee the five-year fund that will invest in education, healthcare and information technology and medical innovation start-ups. CERT is the commercial arm of the Higher Colleges of Technology in the UAE.

  • New fund to aid small companies

    A new $20 million fund to help small and medium-sized businesses in the country is to be launched by the end of March.

  • New funds for rig outfit

    The GCC Energy Fund is part of the consortium that has invested shares in Sharjah-based Maritime Industrial Services Company (MIS). In total, MIS has raised $80 million through the private placement. The capital will be used to fund the oil and gas construction and services company's plans to expand its rig manufacturing business.

  • New refinery starts to look possible

    Damascus has signed a deal with Kuwait's Noor Financial Investment Company, ending a long search for a partner to help develop its planned third refinery to boost domestic capacity.

  • No blank cheque for Bush, say Democrats

    The Democratic leader of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has warned President Bush against plans to increase troop numbers in Iraq. 'Congress is ready to use its constitutional authority of oversight to question what is the justification for this spending, what are the results we are receiving,' Pelosi told CBS News. 'Escalation of the war is opposed by the Democrats.' She added that there would be 'no blank cheque' for Bush.The president is due to reveal a ne

  • No timetable for Iraq to comply with US strategy, says Gates

    US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said there is no timetable for Baghdad to meet the goals laid out in Washington's strategy for Iraq. However he added that the US would have a 'good idea' of the progress made before additional troops are deployed. On the same day, US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad warned that time is running out for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. 'The president has been fairly resolute from the get go and some people there have miscalculated per

  • No-frills airline comes in to land

    The General Authority for Civil Aviation has granted a national air operator's licence to Sama Airlines, making it the first no-frills operator in the kingdom.The licence allows Sama - founded by the local Investment Enterprises - to start its operations with immediate effect. The company will initially operate Boeing 737-300 aircraft from five airports in the kingdom. Sama says it hopes to operate up to 35 737 aircraft.The licence is the second awarded to a private carrier to

  • Non-energy infrastructure spending to top $65bn

    Doha plans to spend close to $65,000 million on non-oil and gas infrastructure projects by 2013.

  • Northern resort continues growth

    Spain's Fadesa is to start construction in March of the estimated Eur 150 million ($194 million) luxury tourist development at Kabila near Tetouan in the north. Once complete, the 136-acre complex will boast more than 2,000 apartments and villas, a 55,000-square-kilometre commercial and leisure centre and a luxury hotel (MEED 1:9:06).The development comes amid strong growth in the kingdom's tourism market, up 20 per cent in 2006 to $5,900 million according to new figures from the Tourism

  • October contracts

  • October contracts

  • October contracts

  • Offshore round planned

    Sanaa is planning to launch an offshore licensing round in March, as it steps up exploration efforts to halt declining production. The new auction follows the award of eight onshore blocks in the third international bid round in December.

  • Oger to take mega loan

    Dubai-based Oger Telecom, part of Saudi Oger, has signed up five banks to arrange a $4,300 million loan in a bid to keep its planned takeover of Turk Telecom on track.

  • Oil loss probe initiated

    Energy Minister Shaikh Ali al-Jarrah al-Sabah has launched an investigation into discrepancies between oil produced by the state and the actual amount exported.

  • OIL MARKETS: Back to normality

    For most of 2006, so strong were oil prices that OPEC producers could open the taps with impunity. Now the party is over. After a slump of some $20 a barrel at the end of the summer, prices have hovered in the $50-60 a barrel range for the past four months. And OPEC has implemented one production cut and announced a second to ensure that they stay there.

  • Olmert under pressure

    Israeli opposition politicians are calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz. This follows the resignation of Dan Halutz, the head of the country's armed forces, on 17 January. Halutz said he was taking responsibility for the mistakes that had been made during the conflict with Lebanon in June. 'He did not agree to my request that he reconsider. I very much regret the chief of staff's resignation,' Olmert said, adding that Halutz was one of Isr

  • OMAN: Strapped for gas

    Dolphin supplies are scheduled to arrive in Oman in early 2008, when the first flush of Qatari gas flows through the Maqta-Al-Ain pipeline into the sultanate. Though significant, the 200 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas will only provide partial relief to the sultanate's looming gas shortage.

  • Omar Effendi owed millions

    Local retailer Omar Effendi, whose troubled privatisation was completed in November, is still owed£E 300 million ($52 million), almost a third of it from the government, according to a new report by the Central Accounting & Auditing Agency, published in late December.The report claimed that the chain was owed£E 165 million ($29 million) by retail clients,£E 49 million ($9 million) by public companies and£E 92 million ($16 million) by government institutions.The debts were accrue

  • Orascom plans housing

    The local Orascom Hotels & Development (OHD) is to invest $491 million in housing projects across the country. It has created a new company, Orascom for Budget Housing, to develop 50,000 units in Fayoum, 6 October City and near the Red Sea. Tamweel, OHD's mortgage company, will provide finance for most of the development costs and plans to offer 20-25-year mortgages to buyers. Work should begin by the second quarter of 2007.

  • Orascom Telecom's stock increases on international news

    Shares in Egypt's Orascom Telecom continued their recent rise, with a 3.9 per cent gain on the Cairo & Alexandra Stock Exchange on 3 January. The increase follows yesterday's news that the mobile telecoms operator has been granted a three-month extension on its licence to provide GSM services in Iraq. Orascom's Iraqi subsidiary, Iraqna, is now licensed to provide GSM services in the country until the end of March 2007. Orascom is preparing for a bidding war with Vodafone, Relia

  • Osaka signs monorail deal

    Local developer Nakheel has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan's Osaka Monorail Company to provide technical support for the operation and maintenance of the Palm Jumeirah monorail.

  • Palestinian factions in kidnap struggle

    Members of rival political Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah on 1 January each kidnapped members of the other group. Following a gunfight provoked by a Hamas raid in north Gaza, Hamas militants kidnapped two Fatah militiamen. In response, Fatah then seized several Hamas members, although some were reported to have been released. The ruling Hamas party denied the raid was a deliberate kidnap operation and said it was fulfilling requirements in line with its Interior Ministry

  • Palestinian factions take forces off Gaza's streets

    Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on 5 January agreed to take their rival Hamas and Fatah forces off the streets of Gaza after eight people were killed in clashes. Following the first meeting between the leaders in two months, Haniya said they had agreed to 'withdraw all gunmen from the streets'. Also on 5 January, Media reports said said Washington will provide $86 million to bolster security forces allied to Fatah.

  • Paris III conference to go ahead despite protests

    The international donors' conference in Paris is set to go ahead despite opposition attempts to derail the government's reform plans, with a $1,000 million commitment from the US the latest sign of support for Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

  • Petrol price hike dropped

    The kingdom has gone back on plans to raise the price of petrol. The prices of Premium 95 and Premium 91 petrol were due to increase to SR 0.75 ($0.20) and SR 0.60 ($0.16) a litre respectively with effect from 1 January. However, King Abdullah has ordered the price to remain the same. Increasing basic commodity prices is becoming more difficult for Gulf states as record oil revenues mean there is little pressure to lift subsidies.

  • Pipeline bids under study

    Technical bids are under evaluation at Qatar Chemical Company II (Q-Chem II) for the contract to build the ethylene pipeline from Ras Laffan to Mesaieed. Bidders include the US' Willbros, India's Punj Lloyd, Cyprus-based Joannou & Paraskevaides (J&P), South Korea's Hanwha Corporation and the local Medgulf Construction. Once technical evaluation is complete, Q-Chem II will shortlist companies to submit commercial bids. The project calls for the construction of a 130-kilometre-long pipeline to tra

  • Police academy booked

    Kuwait Arab Contractors is low bidder at KD 45.5 million ($157 million) to build a new police academy in the Mubarikiya district. The client, the Ministry of Public Works, will take about four months evaluating bids before making an award. The second best price of KD 47.5 million ($164 million) came from Kuwait Dynamics. Kuwait Company for Process Plant Construction & Contracting is ranked third on price, at KD 47.8 million ($165 million). Eight other local contractors priced the work (M

  • Police academy booked

    Kuwait Arab Contractors is low bidder at KD 45.5 million ($157 million) to build a new police academy in the Mubarikiya district. The client, the Ministry of Public Works, will take about four months evaluating bids before making an award. The second best price of KD 47.5 million ($164 million) came from Kuwait Dynamics. Kuwait Company for Process Plant Construction & Contracting is ranked third on price, at KD 47.8 million ($165 million). Eight other local contractors priced the work (MEED 2

  • Police search for kidnapped Peruvian

    Security forces in Gaza were searching on 3 January for a Peruvian photographer following his abduction by an unknown group two days earlier. Jaime Razuri was working in Gaza for the AFP. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who met both French and Peruvian diplomats, said every measure would be taken to release him. 'In past incidents of this kind, hostages have been freed after one or two days,' Abbas said. 'We are determined to end this affair.'

  • POLITICS: Winding road

    During the 1990s, Algeria was ravaged by a civil war that brought to a halt the tentative inflows of foreign investment that had begun in the previous decade. Known as the black decade, the years that followed the overturning of the Islamists' victory in the 1992 elections saw the country plunged into one of the darkest periods of its history.

  • Power-sharing progresses

    The Dammam-based GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) has appointed a consultancy team led by the UK's Norton Rose to advise it on electricity interconnection between the six GCC states.

  • Preliminary deal for new gas project signed

    Tehran has signed a preliminary agreement with Malaysia's SKS for an integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) project including upstream field development and downstream liquefaction facilities.

  • Privatisation plans outlined

    Baghdad is seeking international partners to help privatise 60 companies in the industrial sector before offering shares in the state-owned firms.

  • Producer to boost output

    Sweden's PA Resources has begun production of 8,500 barrels a day (b/d) from the offshore Didon field near the Libya border following the commissioning of its new Didon 5 platform well. Planned upgrades will enable total production of 20,000 b/d from the Didon 3, Didon 4 and Didon 5 wells by the end of March (MEED 9:6:06).

  • Project manager sought

    Prequalification has been launched for project management on the North Idku gas development. Selected companies have been given until 29 January to submit prequalifications. The project calls for the installation of two unmanned platforms, pipeline work and changes to the onshore Mediah gas plant. The client is a consortium of Egyptian General Petroleum Company, Germany's RWE Dea and UK-based Perenco (MEED 15:9:06).

  • Protests held over Saddam death

    Hundreds of mainly Sunni supporters of former president Saddam Hussein turned out in Baghdad, Samarra and Tikrit on 1 January to protest about his execution two days earlier. Demonstrations also took place in Amman, where they were joined by Saddam's eldest daughter Raghad. 'God bless you,' she told the crowd. 'I thank you for honouring Saddam the Martyr.' Saddam was hanged after being sentenced to death by an Iraqi court for the murder of 148 Shia from the town of Dujail.

  • Qatar prepares 2018 World Cup bid

    Doha is to bid to host the football World Cup in 2018, and could invite neighbouring countries to join in as co-hosts.

  • Qataris banned from posting on Wikipedia

    Qataris have been banned from posting anonymous notices on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, it was announced on 2 January. Wikipedia reported repeated web vandalism by users in Qatar and the subsequent disabling of the local portal has effectively banned all users, as all the country's traffic is routed through one address. Pages concerning the US, sex and the birthday of the prophet Mohammed were the ones most hit by the vandals. 'Anonymous editing from this internet addres

  • Qataris get Oman licence

    Qatar National Bank (QNB) is launching a fresh drive to target businesses and wealthy individuals in Oman after gaining an operating licence from the sultanate's Central Bank. The move is the latest step in the rapid regional expansion of Qatar's largest bank, which also recently received approval to open a branch in Kuwait (MEED 8:12:06).

  • Qataris launch Tangier project

    Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company is set to issue the tender for infrastructure works on its $350 million tourist development in Tangier by the end of the month.

  • Q-Chem tenor reduced

    The tenor of the refinancing of the Qatar Chemical Company (Q-Chem) debt has been shortened to five years from seven. The margin remains 40 basis points. A group of 17 banks was appointed in early December on the $525 million deal, which replaces a loan taken out in 1999 to finance construction of the Mesaieed complex. Q-Chem is a joint venture of Qatar Petroleum and the US' Chevron Phillips Chemical Company (MEED 8:12:06).

  • Q-Tel enters Asia

    Qatar Telecom has broken into the South East Asian telecoms market by signing a strategic alliance with Singapore Technologies Telemedia to pursue mobile investment opportunities across the Asia-Pacific region.

  • Rabat, Abuja sign air accord

    Morocco signed an agreement with Nigeria on 23 January to liberalise air space and increase flights between the two countries. Transport Minister Karim Ghellab said at the signing that the accord would pave the way for a future agreement aimed at expanding trade between the states. The agreement builds on an accord signed in 1982 and follows the signing on 12 December of an open skies agreement with the EU, the first to be agreed with a non-European state.

  • RAILWAYS: Building a head of steam

    When Reza Shah opened Iran's first great rail bridge, his Cossack background showed through as he commanded the chief engineers to stand underneath it with their families while the first train thundered overhead.

  • Ras Laffan C set for bid

    Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) will issue the request for proposals for the Ras Laffan C independent water and power project on 1 February. Prospective bidders for the 2,600-MW and 40 million-gallon-a-day plant include: the US' AES Corporation; the UK's International Power; Marubeni Corporation, Mitsui & Company and Sumitomo Corporation, all of Japan; and Belgium's Suez Energy International. The plant, due to be fully commissioned in April 2010, will be the state's larg

  • Refiner unbundling continues Amman sale

    A team of consultants led by the US' Taylor DeJongh is frontrunner to help manage the break-up of Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company (JPRC).JPRC operates the kingdom's only crude oil refinery at Zarqa, although its contract is due to run out next year.The company is to be broken up into three new firms: a logistics company to manage the storage of refined products; a marketing company, which will buy refined products from Zarqa refinery or import refined products; and a retail co

  • Refugee agency appeals for $60 million for Iraq

    The UN's refugee agency on 9 January appealed for $60 million in aid for people feeling Iraq. The UNHCR estimates that up to 50,000 people leave the country every month. Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon have become the prime destinations for Iraq's refugees. 'The longer this conflict goes on, the more difficult it becomes for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced,' UNHCR head Antonio Guterres said. An estimated two million refugees have left the country while a fur

  • Region urged to open skies

    Greater liberalisation of aviation is needed to ensure passenger demand in the Middle East continues to meet the rapid growth in capacity, according to analysts.

  • REGULATING: Adjusting to market forces

    Only the second regulator in the country, the Commission de Regulation de l'Electricite et du Gaz (CREG) is based on the sixth floor of the new Energy Ministry in Val d'Hydra. Located on a roundabout not far from the diplomatic quarter of the city, it is a building that speaks volumes about Algiers' ambitions. Its two towers, either side of a connecting archway spanning the building's main entrance, command an impressive view of the capital; its soft cream colour scheme and quatrefoil windows gi

  • Regulator extends licence deadlines

    Telecoms regulator the Communications & Information Technology Commission (CITC) has extended the deadlines for applications for new mobile and fixed-line licences by more than a month.

  • Report reveals companies fail to plan for crises

    Most businesses in the UAE have no proper procedures to deal with unforeseen crises, according to a new survey from KPMG, which says lack of planning could deter future investment.

  • Revamped team signs Bid Boland contract

    Foreign contractors are likely to be left out from much of the work on the $2,200 million Bid Boland gas refinery in southern Iran, after a revamped project team signed the contract to build the plant. The project was originally awarded in summer 2005, but negotiations stalled after the new government of President Ahmadinejad came to power (MEED 1:7:05).

  • Rice concludes Middle East tour

    US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on 17 January concluded her trip to the Middle East, aimed at garnering support for President Bush's new Iraq strategy. Foreign affairs ministers from all six GCC states as well as Egypt and Jordan backed the deployment of 20,000 additional troops to the country. 'We expressed our desire to see the president's plan to reinforce American military presence in Baghdad as a vehicle to stabilise Baghdad and prevent Iraq sliding into this u

  • Riyadh backs US Iraq strategy

    Saudi Arabia on 16 January said Arab countries would back the US new strategy for Iraq, but that Iraqis alone cold make the plan work. 'We agree fully with the goals set by the new strategy, which in our view are the goals that - if implemented - would solve the problems that face Iraq,' Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said.'But implementation also requires a [positive] response by the Iraqis themselves to these goals Other countries can help, but the

  • Riyadh to build SR 20,000 million water bank

    Saudi officials are studying proposals to build a SR 20,000 million ($5,330 million) water bank in the northern Tihama region, media reports said on 4 January. Officials say the bank would meet Saudi Arabia's water needs for the next 21 years. The Tihama region is considered suitable for the project due to the high rainfall it receives throughout the year.

  • Rothschild offers advice

    Rothschild has been awarded the mandate to advise the Central Bank of Libya on the privatisation of the country's banking sector. Foreign banks will be offered an initial 20 - 30 per cent stake in two banks while two more banks will be merged and another is due to be restructured. (MEED 15:12:07).

  • Russia completes air defence deal with Iran

    Russia has completed an estimated $700 million deal to sell 30 air defence missile systems to Iran, Sergei Chemezov, head of Rosoboronexport, was quoted as saying by Russian media on 23 January. 'Russia fully completed delivery to Iran of the Tor-M1 missile complexes at the end of December 2006,' Chemezov said. Russia says the missiles are short-range and will only be used for defence purposes. The US has called on all countries to end weapons exports to Iran.

  • Russians unveil $1.3bn investment plans

    Russia's Rosneft is seeking government approval to invest $1,300 million in the development of two oil and gas discoveries in the southeast. The announcement came as Moscow and Algiers agreed to wide-ranging energy co-operation in a new memorandum of understanding (MoU).

  • Sabic set for acquisition

    The EU has given regulatory approval for Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) to acquire the European assets of the US' Huntsman Corporation. 'The commission concluded that the operation would not significantly impede effective competition in the European economic area,' said an EU statement (MEED 6:10:06).

  • Sabic taps international banks to help fund overseas expansion plans

    Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) is to expand its international banking facilities as it eyes future expansion.

  • Saddam execution made him a martyr, says Mubarak

    Egyptian President Mubarak has said that the footage of the hanging of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has turned him into a martyr. 'People are executed all over the world, but what happened in Baghdad on the first day of Eid al-Adha was unthinkable,' Mubarak said on 5 January. 'Why did they have to hurry? Why hang him when people are reciting their holiday prayers? Then the pictures of the execution were revolting and barbaric.' Mubarak, who made the comments in an in

  • Samba takes on Enmaa advisory role

    Samba Financial Group has been appointed financial adviser and lead manager on the planned $2,800 million stock market listing of Enmaa Bank, the kingdom's largest initial public offering (IPO) to date.The new financial institution is being created by the government and will offer 70 per cent of its SR 15,000 million ($4,000 million) capital through the listing. However, the flotation is not expected to take place before the second quarter of the year at the earliest.The Capital

  • Samsung wins olefins unit

    South Korea's Samsung Engineering Company has won the contract to build the region's first olefins conversion unit (OCU) at the Saudi European Petrochemical Company (Ibn Zahr) polypropylene (PP) complex in Jubail.

  • saudi islamic finance: Landmark sukuk issue planned

    Local property developer Dar al-Arkan Real Estate Development Company has agreed a $425 million sukuk issue with a five-strong group of banks, becoming the first Saudi company to issue international sharia-compliant paper. It is expected to open the door for other companies in the kingdom to tap the international capital markets.

  • Saudi Kayan awards near

    Awards are expected soon on a raft of process packages for the Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Complex in Jubail, the largest standalone petrochemicals complex ever built. Bids have been submitted for six of the downstream packages, with first awards due from the end of January.

  • Saudi to receive Eurofighters soon

    Riyadh has said it will begin receiving 72 Eurofighter jets from the UK's BAE Systems soon. The aircraft 'will be sent to the kingdom very soon at specific dates', Saudi Arabia's Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz was quoted as saying by the Saudi news agency on 7 January. The comments came a month after the UK's Serious Fraud Office dropped its investigation into the 1980s Al-Yamamah deal between BAE Systems and Riyadh. Reports said the Saudi government had thre

  • Saudis seen as the region's spendthrifts

    Consumer confidence in the region is highest in Saudi Arabia, according to a new survey, having risen strongly in the past six months.The index, where 100 is the highest measure of optimism, stood at 97.3 points for the second half of 2006 in the kingdom. The average for the five countries surveyed, which also included Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon and the UAE, was 83.9 points. Confidence in Saudi Arabia has risen by almost 10 points since the first half of the year, buoyed by optimism in emplo

  • Saving lives is more important than winning the war in Iraq

    It has been reported that President Bush started meetings about his Iraq strategy review by asking anyone whose goal was anything other than winning to leave the room. It seems that no-one did. That perhaps explains why the White House's new look Iraq policy is less of a fudge than expected. Instead of appeasing domestic sceptics, Bush has stuck to his principles by sending more troops to pacify Baghdad.

  • Senior Iranian cleric criticises president

    Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Iran's most senior dissident cleric, has attacked the stance of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over nuclear issues and the economy, it was revealed on 22 January. He claimed inflation in the country was much higher than official reports of 13 per cent and questioned the rationale behind Tehran's contributions to Hamas and the expenditure of the president's recent tour of Latin America.'Some countries do not have oil and gas, yet they r

  • Senior Mehdi leader and Sadr PR chief arrested

    A senior militant leader associated with radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was seized on 19 January by Iraqi security forces in Baghdad. According to the US military, Iraqi special forces backed by US troops seized the unidentified man in a pre-dawn raid in the eastern Baladiat district, close to the Mehdi army's stronghold of Sadr City. The suspect is alleged to be involved in the assassination of members of the Iraqi security forces and government officials. Sadr's off

  • Shams designer picked

    Hong Kong-based P&T Architects & Engineers has been appointed as the design consultant for the First Abu Dhabi development in Shams Abu Dhabi on Reem island. The predominantly residential project will involve the construction of four 50-storey towers with a gross floor area of 325,000 square metres. The local Mayadeen Gulf Estate Company, a subsidiary of Kuwait's National Ranges Company, is the client.

  • Sharjah road work awarded

    Sharjah's Public Works Department has awarded two contracts as part of its AED 2,000 million ($545 million) road programme (MEED 19:5:06).

  • Sharjah road work awarded

    Sharjah's Public Works Department has awarded two contracts as part of its AED 2,000 million ($545 million) road programme (MEED 19:5:06).The local Sharjah General Contracting has been awarded a AED 477 million ($130 million) package on Al-Wahda road for an interchange and an overpass at King Abdulaziz junction.The second contract, valued at AED 255 million ($69 million), has gone to the local National Contracting & Transport Company for the interchanges a

  • Sharm development designs near approval

    Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company is expected to approve by February the conceptual designs for its new $250 million-300 million tourist development in Sharm el-Shaikh that will include a hotel, villas and an aquatic park.

  • Showtime takes loan

    BNP Paribas and Commercialbank have arranged a $100 million loan for Showtime Arabia, a joint venture between Kuwait Projects Company (Kipco) and the US' Viacom. A general syndication is under discussion. The funds raised will be used for international expansion by the broadcaster. Showtime appointed Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to advise on a planned stock market listing in 2005 but there has since been no movement on the flotation (MEED 1:4:05).

  • Shuqaiq debt syndicated

    Syndication closed in mid-January of the debt package to fund the Shuqaiq independent water and power project (IWPP). Allocations are due to be finalised by the end of January with financial close due in late February.

  • Special Report: Gulf contractor survey - A time to deliver

    The results of MEED's first Gulf contractor survey show the rude health of the GCC construction market and the mounting pressure on contractors to deliver on their commitments.

  • Splits emerge among opposition as general strike takes hold

    Opposition to the government mounted in Beirut on 23 January with calls from Hezbollah for a general strike across the country. 'They will try to belittle the strike,' said Hezbollah militant leader Hassan Nasrallah, speaking in Beirut's southern suburbs. 'The media and officials [will show] open shops as proof that we have failed. I have faith that you will remain disciplined and will avoid any insults and sectarian slogans.' However, the head of the Free P

  • StanChart covers region

    Shayne Nelson has been appointed regional chief executive officer at Standard Chartered Bank. The role is a new one for the bank, whose Middle East and North Africa operations were formerly directed from London. Nelson was previously head of the bank's operations in Malaysia.

  • State plan bids invited

    The Urban Planning & Development Authority is evaluating bids from three consultants for a masterplan study covering the entire state. The authority's managing director, Ali Abdulla al-Abdulla, says that it will analyse population, economic trends, growth scenarios, infrastructure needs and the impact of development on the environment. The masterplan of Doha is expected to be part of the first stage.

  • Statoil team adds block 10

    Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has awarded Norway's Statoil and a subsidiary of Algerian state energy company Sonatrach a second offshore block in its 2006 international licensing round. An EGAS spokesman said the block was the final award that would be made in the round.

  • Steel financing deal restructured

    Financing of the $950 million Emirates Steel Industries iron and steel plant at Mussafah is to be restructured following pressure from the eight-strong group of banks likely to back the project.

  • Subiya resort planned

    The local SSH International has begun design work on a new resort on the Subiya peninsula. The 100,000-square-metre seafront resort will comprise a 130-room, five-star hotel, along with chalets, townhouses and restaurants. Tenders for the construction elements are due to be issued in 2008. The client is Kipco Asset Management Company (Kamco).

  • Sudanese leaders argue over peace deal

    Sudanese President Al-Bashir and vice-president and southern leader Salva Kiir on 9 January engaged in a heated exchange during a ceremony to commemorate the signing of a peace deal agreed two years earlier. Kiir said there were 'serious problems' with the deal, which ended a 21-year long civil war between the Muslim north and Christian south.'The [agreement] ensured a radical change in Sudanese politics [and an] equitable and transparent share of wealth and resources,' Ki

  • Suicide bomb hits Sadr City

    At least 15 people were killed and 30 more injured following a suicide car bomb attack in the Shia Sadr City district of Baghdad. The attack came shortly after at least seven policemen and civilians were killed when a lorry exploded in the city of Kirkuk. A day earlier, at least 70 people died in a double attack at a university in the east of the capital.

  • Sunset Hills plans drawn up

    Abu Dhabi Investment House (ADIH) is planning a residential project within the Al-Areen Desert Spa and Resort at a cost of more than $100 million. Discussions are ongoing with potential developers to take complete control of the scheme. If unsuccessful, ADIH will remain the overall developer.Called Sunset Hills, the project will cover an area of about 45,000 square metres and have a total built-up area of some 56,000 square metres. It will include villas, townhouses, apar

  • Sunset Hills plans drawn up

    Abu Dhabi Investment House (ADIH) is planning a residential project within the Al-Areen Desert Spa and Resort at a cost of more than $100 million. Discussions are ongoing with potential developers to take complete control of the scheme. If unsuccessful, ADIH will remain the overall developer.

  • Sur agreements signed

    The joint venture of France's Veolia Environnement and the local Bahwan Engineering Company signed the key project agreements on 17 January with the National Economy Ministry for the first independent water project in the sultanate. The project company, Sharqiyah Desalination Company, will design, build, own and operate the 20 million-gallon-a-day desalination plant at Sur (MEED 8:12:06).

  • Sur agreements signed

    The joint venture of France's Veolia Environnement and the local Bahwan Engineering Company signed the key project agreements on 17 January with the National Economy Ministry for the first independent water project in the sultanate. The project company, Sharqiyah Desalination Company, will design, build, own and operate the 20 million-gallon-a-day desalination plant at Sur (MEED 8:12:06).

  • Systra in pole for metro

    France's Systra is understood to be the low bidder for the National Authority for Tunnels' contract to provide supervision and co-ordination services on the new third line of the Cairo Metro. The only other bidder is the US' Parsons Brinckerhoff. Cairo is expected to make an award within weeks. It is also scheduled to award the package to provide rolling stock for the line by mid-January, the only phase 1 package yet to be awarded (MEED 22:12:06).

  • Talabani on Syria visit

    Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on 15 January arrived in Damascus for talks with President Asad in the first official visit by an Iraqi president to the country in 30 years. Baghdad and Damascus restored diplomatic ties in November following a 20-year long freeze. The two leaders are expected to sign several security and trade agreements. The visit comes days after US President Bush announced his new strategy for Iraq, saying he would interrupt Iranian and Syrian support fo

  • Talabani seeks to stall executions

    Iraqi President Talabani on 10 January called for the execution of two of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants to be delayed. Referring to the controversy surrounding Saddam's hanging, Talabani said: 'I prefer to go slow on the executions as the circumstances are not right.' Barzan al-Tikriti and Awad al-Bandar were due to be executed within days. 'The execution orders have been signed and are ready to be implemented,' Iraqi government spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh said on 7 Janua

  • Target lands marinas

    The local Target Engineering Contracting Company has started work on three marinas at Palm Jumeirah. The AED 246 million ($67 million) contract involves the design, supply, installation and commissioning of floating concrete pontoons at the Village Centre and shoreline apartments. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2007. Leisurecorp, part of the local Istithmar, is the client.

  • Target wins Technip civils

    Paris-based Technip has awarded the local Target Engineering Construction Company the $110 million civils and piping works on the third package of the offshore associated gas project in Abu Dhabi. The project involves the supply and installation of compressor and booster stations on Das island. Abu Dhabi's Supreme Petroleum Council approved the estimated $610 million award to Technip in early January, selecting it ahead of two other firms (MEED 19:1:07).

  • Tel Aviv appoints first Arab minister

    Raleb Majadele has become the first Arab minister to hold a seat in the Israeli government. Majadele was appointed to the post of Science & Technology Minister on 12 January by Israel's Labour Party leader Amir Peretz. 'This is a historic development and undoubtedly it will bring about an improvement in the relationships among different groups in Israel,' Peretz said.Majadele will take over from Ophir Pines-Paz who resigned in October in protest at the addition of the righ

  • Telcos approach international lenders

    Saudi Telecom is raising a $1,200 million war chest to fund its first major acquisitions, the first of several regional telecoms deals worth $7,500 million in total.

  • Tenders issued for plant work

    Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has invited bids for two construction contracts on its proposed Al-Qurayyah and PP8 power plant projects.

  • Tensions rise in West Bank

    Several shops in the West Bank were destroyed by arsonists on 8 January in a sign that tensions between Hamas and Fatah factions remain high. Reports said the shops belonged to Hamas supporters. About 30 people have been killed in clashes between the rival Palestinian groups in the past month.Also on 8 January, Israeli forces said they had arrested 21 Palestinians from Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Meanwhile, gunmen shot at the car of fo

  • The GCC prepares for another boom year with price controls

    To the dismay of free market thinkers, Dubai has announced that annual rent increases for most properties will be limited to 7 per cent in 2007. This compares with the 15 per cent cap last year and is in line with Abu Dhabi's rent limit last year.

  • The international contractor: Flexibility is key

    Through its Dubai-based venture, Dutco Balfour Beatty is one of the most established international contractors in the Gulf.

  • The local contractor: Dubai's home-grown talent

    As projects stack up in Dubai, local contractors have begun to rise to the challenge and take on mega-projects by themselves.

  • The regional contractor: Managing growth

    After the flood of awards in 2006, Beirut-based ACC is looking forward to its busiest year on record.

  • Thuraya crosses bridge

    Abu Dhabi-based Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company has signed a $100 million bridge loan, arranged by Emirates Financial Services. Commercial Bank of Dubai, Emirates Bank International and National Bank of Dubai acted as lead managers on the six-month facility, which is due to be replaced by a five-year borrowing before maturity. The funds raised will be used to repay the remainder of a $600 million loan taken out in 1999.

  • TIGHT GAS: Tight spots

    Tight gas reservoirs exist where rock permeability is low, meaning they contain less gas than a conventional reservoir. The reservoirs are normally beneath conventional reservoirs, at depths of 3,500-4,500 metres. In conventional gas basins, pressure will naturally push the gas through the drill pipe into the well; with tight gas, this process is extremely slow. The flow of tight gas can be accelerated by subjecting the rock to a process called fractionation, by which chemicals or vibrations are

  • Time to adjust

    The brakes have finally been applied. After burning ahead on their oil income for the past four years, the Gulf states now face a double whammy of falling oil prices and demand. The twin assault is a shock to economies that have already become used to headline prices and record growth trajectories.

  • Time to adjust

    The brakes have finally been applied. After burning ahead on their oil income for the past four years, the Gulf states now face a double whammy of falling oil prices and demand. The twin assault is a shock to economies that have already become used to headline prices and record growth trajectories.

  • Time to deliver: Pressure mounts on GCC contractors

    The results of MEED's first Gulf contractor survey show the rude health of the GCC construction market and the mounting pressure on contractors to deliver on their commitments.

  • TOURISM: The unseen destination

    Iran's tourist plans are nothing if not ambitious. Last year, 1.7 million foreigners visited the Islamic republic, of whom about 200,000 were genuine tourists - mostly religious pilgrims visiting Qom and Mashhad. Now the government wants to attract 20 million foreign tourists a year by 2018.

  • Tripoli to lay off 400,000 workers

    A total of 400,000 government employees will lose their jobs, Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmoudi announced on 20 January. The reforms are aimed at reducing budget pressures and stimulating the private sector. Mahmoudi said the number of civil servants and state employees had surpassed 1 million in recent years and paying their salaries cost the government around LD4,000 million ($3,100 million) in 2006.However, he added that the sacked workers would continue to receiv

  • Trouble in store

    At the main polling station in the Sadeqieh neighbourhood of west Tehran, a large crowd gathered in late December to vote for new city councillors and venerable religious scholars charged with overseeing the supreme leader.

  • Tunisia looks east for refinery crude

    Senior local sources have questioned the viability of Tunis' plans to develop a 120,000-barrel-a-day export refinery at La Skhira, despite a new intergovernmental deal to source crude oil feedstock from Libya.

  • Turbines order awarded

    Florence-based GE Oil & Gas has picked up two new contracts in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It has won a multi-million-dollar order for gas turbines to Saudi Aramco. Delivery of the 12 mechanical drive packages for the Ghawar and Khurais oil fields is set for 2007, with commissioning scheduled for 2008. The company has also been awarded the compressor and power generation package for the condensate refinery expansion project in Jebel Ali. The client is Dubai-based ENOC Processing Company (MEED 17:1

  • Turkey warns Kurds over Kirkuk

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 9 January warned that Ankara would take action if Iraq's Kurds take control of the oil-rich Kirkuk region. 'There are efforts to alter the demographic structure of Kirkuk,' Erdogan told parliament. 'We cannot remain a bystander to such developments.' However, he did not elaborate on how Turkey would act.Ankara is concerned that greater autonomy for Iraq's Kurds could fuel separatist tendencies among its own Kurdish minority.

  • Turks take pipe project

    Turkey's STFA has been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract to replace the main oil line near Qarn Alam in central Oman. STFA was low bidder at $76 million for the Hubara-Sahmah and Sahmah-KP 114 oil line project, which involves the installation of 102 kilometres of 32-36-inch-diameter pipeline and a 28-inch, 114-kilometre pipeline. Petroleum Development Oman is the client (MEED 24:11:06).

  • Two dead following general strike

    At least two people died in street clashes in Beirut on 23 January following a general strike called by Hezbollah opposition members. Protesters blocked roads, flights were cancelled and businesses closed. The opposition is urging fresh elections for a new national unity government ahead of a planned international donors' conference set for 25 January aimed at revitalising the country's debt-burdened economy. Splits had emerged among opposition groups ahead of the strike.

  • Two tower jobs awarded

    Local real estate developer ETA Star has awarded contracts totalling AED 800 million ($218 million) for two residential towers in Dubai. Oman's Civilco will build the Centrium tower in the International Media Production Zone and the local ETA Ascon has been awarded the main construction contract for Al-Manara tower in Business Bay. Both projects are scheduled for completion in 2009.

  • UAE says no to GCC central bank

    Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi, governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, has claimed there is no need for a single central bank to run monetary policy in a future GCC monetary union (see Briefing).

  • UN optimistic about Darfur force

    UN envoy to Darfur Jan Eliasson on 12 January said Khartoum remains committed to a joint African - UN force in the war-torn region. Eliasson was speaking two days after the Sudanese government agreed to 60-day ceasefire. Media reports said it was unclear which rebel groups had agreed to the deal.'President Al-Bashir and all other officials I met here told me that there will not be a military solution to the Darfur problem and I hope I will hear this from the non-signatorie

  • UPSTREAM DEVELOPMENT: Licensing spree

    Last year saw a bumper crop of Middle East licensing rounds. As the table on pages 35-37 shows, more than 50 exploration blocks were awarded in countries ranging from Libya to Oman. With demand for energy increasing, there is no lack of appetite among oil companies for new opportunities.

  • US imposes sanctions on Syria, Iran arms suppliers

    The Bush administration has imposed sanctions on companies supplying missiles and weapons-related goods to Iran and Syria, the Washington Times on 5 January quoted US officials as saying. The punitive measures were imposed on three Chinese state-run firms, three Russian companies and a North Korean mining company earlier in January. The sanctions ban US firms from conducting business with the companies for two years.According to the Washington Times, the companies affected

  • US to hold Middle East peace talks

    US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will hold talks with Palestinian Authority President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert within four weeks, US officials said on 15 January. The announcement came after Rice met Olmert as part of her tour of the region. Negotiations will be based on the 2003 roadmap initiative. A day earlier, Rice met Abbas before travelling to Amman for talks with Jordan's King Abdullah. On 15 January, she arrived in Egypt, where she met Pre

  • US troops seize Iranian consulate staff

    US forces on 11 January raided the Iranian consulate in Irbil in northern Iraq, seizing six employees. The US military confirmed it had arrested six people in the area. Iranian media reports said the Islamic republic's embassy in Baghdad had sent a letter to the Iraqi Foreign Affairs Ministry protesting against the incident. Five US helicopters were reported to have landed troops on the roof of the consulate while vehicles closed off the surrounding streets.

  • Venture needs to re-equip

    The new joint venture of the local AA Turki and India's Larsen & Toubro has been told its heavy equipment is insufficient for the work it intends to bid for.

  • Vodafone Egypt launches 3G

    Vodafone Egypt has signed a contract with the Telecoms Ministry to launch a third-generation mobile service. The cost of the upgraded licence was£E 3,300 million ($578 million). The price, which was higher than expected, was linked to the price paid by UAE-based operator Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) for Egypt's third mobile phone licence in 2006. Etisalat is expected to begin 3G services in February. The deal, which was signed on 21 January, also requ

  • Warm weather brings out bears

    Oil prices slumped in the second week of January on the back of continued unseasonally warm temperatures on the US East Coast and a generally bearish sentiment gripping the market. Even Russia flexing its energy muscles by cutting supplies through a European oil pipeline failed to buoy the market. Spot Brent was trading at $52.44 a barrel on 10 January, compared with $60.50 a barrel a week earlier.

  • Water consultant flows

    The UK's IPA Energy Consulting has been awarded the consultancy contract to advise on the establishment of a water regulator in the kingdom. Under the 42-month contract, IPA will support the project management unit in the Water & Irrigation Ministry on the implementation of the Al-Meyyah water services project. The work includes the creation of a regulatory and institutional framework, attracting private sector involvement and investment in the water sector.

  • Water faces funding deficit

    The Middle East and North Africa region needs to invest $117,000 million in wastewater and potable water over the coming 10 years to cope with rising populations and economic growth. According to estimates by Abu Dhabi-based investment house Gulf Capital, Saudi Arabia faces the highest water bill, at $27,700 million. It is followed by Egypt at $13,200 million, Iran at $11,900 million and Algeria at $9,700 million. Potable water scheme

  • Water faces funding deficit

    The Middle East and North Africa region needs to invest $117,000 million in wastewater and potable water over the coming 10 years to cope with rising populations and economic growth.

  • Water storage tendered

    The Energy Ministry has invited 10 local contractors to submit bids by 18 March for the contract to build water storage tanks at Mina Abdulla (see Tenders).

  • Water storage tendered

    The Energy Ministry has invited 10 local contractors to submit bids by 18 March for the contract to build water storage tanks at Mina Abdulla (see Tenders).The scope of works on the estimated $150 million-250 million contract covers the engineering, procurement and construction of eight reinforced concrete ground tanks, each with a capacity of 55 million gallons. The work also includes site preparation, the construction of access roads, related infrastructure and landscaping. A total

  • Water storage tendered

    The Energy Ministry has invited 10 local contractors to submit bids by 25 March for the contract to build water storage tanks at Al-Zour in the south.

  • Wave awards to flow

    Waterfront Developments is moving ahead with six packages on The Wave Muscat mixed-use tourism and residential development. The UK/local Carillion-Allawi will build townhouses, a quay wall and a breakwater under the first phase. The local Al-Turki Enterprises has been selected for infrastructure and villa construction, while Lebanon's SNE will carry out reef construction. The $2,000 million scheme also includes four hotels, a golf course, a marina and a business park.

  • Well maintenance let

    Petroleum Development Oman has awarded the UK's PSL Energy Services a $12 million well maintenance contract. The two-year deal covers hydraulic workover and snubbing services for 30 wells. The award is the company's first well servicing contract in the region. Outside the sultanate, PSL is targeting projects in Qatar and the UAE and has been awarded two process services contracts by Global Process Systems and Lamprell, both in the UAE.

  • Western oil companies ignore licensing round

    Tehran has launched a new oil and gas exploration and development licensing round. National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has put 17 onshore and offshore blocks up for tender (see Tenders).

  • YEMEN: Gaining a foothold

    With estimated reserves of only 2,900 million barrels, Yemen's upstream potential is dwarfed by that of its better-endowed neighbours. Worse, production from existing plays is declining sharply, down to about 426,000 barrels a day (b/d) in 2005. But meagre as such output may seem in regional terms, oil accounts for more than 70 per cent of government revenues and more than 90 per cent of exports. Unsurprisingly, then, Sanaa is stepping up exploration activity to at least stem the slide.

  • YLNG seeks financing

    The sponsors of the Yemen liquefied natural gas project are still aiming to approach the commercial bank market for funding during the first half of 2007, despite financing delays caused by the changes to the project's upstream structure. Discussions are under way between the project company, Yemen LNG, led by France's Total, and the government to make the scheme bankable. Four export credit agencies remain on board for the estimated $3,000 million debt package. Citigroup is the financial adv

  • Yuksel nets bypass work

    Turkey's Yuksel has been awarded the AED 237 million ($65 million) contract to widen the Dubai bypass. Yuksel was low bidder for the contract when bids were submitted in September, beating off competition from seven other contractors. The scope of works covers the widening to five lanes of road between Sharjah and the Al-Ain road. The client is Dubai's Roads & Transport Authority (MEED 10:11:06).

  • Zinc project restructured

    UK-based ZincOx Resources is awaiting the Yemeni parliament's consent to proceed with exploitation of the Jabali zinc oxide deposit, after winning approval from the Oil & Minerals Ministry and the cabinet.

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