Iran’s projects market saw the biggest decline on the Gulf’s index in the week ending on 11 December, according to data collected by regional projects tracker MEED Projects.

A net value of $4.2bn was wiped off the value of Iran’s market during the week as four projects worth a total of $6.2bn were completed. These included a pipeline scheme, oil storage facilities and a hydropower plant.

The declines in Iran weighed on the entire Gulf Projects Index, leaving it down by 0.2 per cent at the end of the week.

Compared with the same period last year Iran’s project market remains up by 17.6 per cent. On 9 December 2014 active projects in Iran were worth a total of $222.9bn. On 11 December 2015 it was worth $257.8bn.

The UAE, Bahrain and Iraq projects markets also declined.

In the UAE, 11 projects were put on hold and 24 were completed, leaving it down by $2.4bn at the end of the week.

One of the projects put on hold was the $215m Emirates Global Aluminium (Emal) Shaheen Alumina Refinery Captive Power Plant.

It faces an uncertain future after the Spanish energy company Abengoa started insolvency proceedings on 25 November.

The beginning of insolvency proceedings comes less than a week after the firm signed a contract with Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) to build a 220MW expansion of the captive power plant at its Al-Taweelah complex in Abu Dhabi.

Other projects put on hold and completed in the UAE include residential and mixed-use construction schemes.

Bahrain, the smallest projects market in the Gulf index, saw a decline of 0.7 per cent as three proects were completed and one was cancelled.

Iraq’s project market fell by 0.3 per cent over the week, leaving it down by 13.1 per cent compared with 9 December 2014.

The biggest increases over the week were seen in the Kuwait and Qatar markets. The value of active projects in Kuwait increased by 0.5 per cent, rising to $248.0bn. Qatar’s project market also expanded by 0.5 per cent, hitting $277.1bn.