The Gulf Project Index’s negative growth trajectory continued during the week ending on 27 November, with a decline of 0.1 per cent compared with the previous week.

Saudi Arabia shed 0.6 per cent off its index value, equivalent to a decline of $6.6bn on its $1 trillion projects market. The kingdom’s decline weighed on the rest of GCC states’ projects markets, which together registered a 0.3 per cent drop during the week.

The overall performance of the regional projects market index would have been worse without a major gain of 1.2 per cent made by Iran’s projects market.

Iran’s gains were primarily due to $2bn-worth of new oil projects: the Qeshm topping plant in Hormozgan; and the Farzanegan Gas Condensate Refinery in Bushehr.

Besides Iran, projects markets in Kuwait and Bahrain gained 0.6 and 0.8 per cent on the weekly index, respectively.

New projects worth $1.4bn appeared on Kuwait projects market. These include two hospitals, with combined budgets estimated at $900m, an oil pipeline, a separators facility for the Kuwait Oil Company, and a commercial tower.

Bahrain’s gains relied mainly on three new projects, with a combined estimated budget worth $320m, and an upward adjustment of $310m for a mixed-use project at the Bahrain Financial Harbour.

The projects markets in Qatar and UAE fell by 0.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

Budget revisions across 45 projects in the UAE netted a decline equivalent to $893m, which further compounded the change in status to on hold of six projects that have a combined estimated budget of $2.4bn. The $2bn Bab integrated facilities expansion of Abu Dhabi Company for Offshore Oil Operations (Adco) was the largest project in the UAE that has been put on hold.

The completion of $7.6bn-worth of projects triggered the decline in Saudi Arabia’s projects index value during the week, regardless of the addition of 21 new projects, which budget value is estimated to total only $1.5bn. The kingdom’s index value is also nearly 18 per cent lower year-on-year.