Saudi Arabia’s Ades secures $136.2m deals in Qatar, Egypt

Ades, which specializes in providing drilling and intervention services, signed a contract valued at up to SR350 million with Total Energies to operate an offshore drilling platform in Qatar.  
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Updated 12 May 2024
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Saudi Arabia’s Ades secures $136.2m deals in Qatar, Egypt

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ades Holding Co. continues to expand its regional footprint as it seals two contracts worth SR511 million ($136.2 million), highlighting its growing influence in the oil and gas sector. 

Ades, which specializes in providing drilling and intervention services, signed a contract valued at up to SR350 million with Total Energies to operate an offshore drilling platform in Qatar.  

The agreement includes a mandatory one-year period with an option to extend it for up to an additional 18 months, according to a bourse filing. 

Operations are slated to begin in the second half of 2024. The company emphasized that there are no related parties involved in this contract. 

This contract comes on the heels of April’s announcement, where Ades was awarded the responsibility to operate another offshore drilling platform by Total Energies in Qatar.  

This previous contract enables Ades to maintain its market presence robustly, as it will now operate three drilling platforms in the region.  

This expansion comes after the company’s strategic move to transfer its Emerald Driller platform to Indonesia.  

Moreover, Ades announced in a separate release that it was awarded a 21-month contract to operate an elevated platform in the Gulf of Suez.  

The company received a direct award letter from the Suez Oil Co, also known as SUCO, in Egypt, with operations expected to commence in the coming weeks. 

In a statement on Tadawul, the company disclosed that the contract is valued at SR161 million.  

This new engagement in Egypt is part of Ades’s broader strategy to reactivate its operations regionally. It follows recent contracts in Thailand and Qatar, bringing the total number of reactivated platforms to three out of the five that were recently suspended in Saudi Arabia. 

The publicly traded company saw a slight decrease in its stock price after its announcements.  


New Murabba seeks contractors for Mukaab Towers fit-outs: MEED

Updated 28 January 2026
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New Murabba seeks contractors for Mukaab Towers fit-outs: MEED

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s New Murabba Development Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, has issued a request for information to gauge the market for modular and offsite fit-out solutions for its flagship Mukaab development, MEED reported on Wednesday.

The RFI was released on Jan. 26, with submissions due by Feb. 11. NMDC has also scheduled a market engagement meeting during the first week of February to discuss potential solutions with prospective contractors.

Sources close to the project told MEED that NMDC is “seeking experienced suppliers and contractors to advise on the feasibility, constraints, and execution strategy for using non-load-bearing modular systems for the four corner towers framing the Mukaab structure.” The feedback gathered from these discussions will be incorporated into later design and procurement decisions.

The four towers — two residential (North and South) and two mixed-use (East and West) — are integral to the Mukaab’s architectural layout. Each tower is expected to rise approximately 375 meters and span over 80 stories. Key modular elements under consideration include bathroom pods, kitchen pods, dressing room modules, panelized steel partition systems, and other offsite-manufactured fit-out solutions.

Early works on the Mukaab were completed last year, with NMDC preparing to award the estimated $1 billion contract for the main raft works. This was highlighted in a presentation by NMDC’s chief project delivery officer on Sept. 9, 2025, during the Future Projects Forum in Riyadh.

Earlier this month, US-based Parsons Corp. was awarded a contract by NMDC to provide design and construction technical support. Parsons will act as the lead design consultant for infrastructure, delivering services covering public buildings, infrastructure, landscaping, and the public realm at New Murabba. The firm will also support the development of the project’s downtown experience, which spans 14 million sq. meters of residential, workplace, and entertainment space.

The Parsons contract follows NMDC’s October 2025 agreements with three other US-based engineering firms for design work across the development. New York-headquartered Kohn Pedersen Fox was appointed to lead early design for the first residential community, while Aecom and Jacobs were selected as lead design consultants for the Mukaab district.

In August 2025, NMDC signed a memorandum of understanding with Falcons Creative Group, another US-based firm, to develop the creative vision and immersive experiences for the Mukaab project. Meanwhile, Beijing-based China Harbour Engineering Co. completed the excavation works for the Mukaab, and UAE-headquartered HSSG Foundation Contracting executed the foundation works.