City Updates

The tender board awarded RO 31.83 million worth of tenders for a number of projects including supply of rice (RO 7.40mn), supply of electric cables for Majan Electricity Company (RO 7.19mn), design and rehabilitation of Wadi Al Jahawir road (RO 6.25mn), expansion of Raysut Industrial Estate (RO 3.42mn), design and implementation of Wadi Al Jazeer bridge (RO 3.15mn), and adding electric transformers to raise the capacity of Sumail Main Power Station (RO 2.6mn). (ONA)

The open cycle (494 MW) of the gas-fired 750-megawatt Barka III power plant and another open cycle (494 MW) of the Sohar II plant will become operational shortly while the full combined cycle (745 MW each) of these plants will commence generation of power in the first half of 2013. The overall investment for the both the projects stands at $1700 million. Once operational, both the plants will help meet the growing demand for electricity in the Sultanate. The Barka 3 plant is located in close proximity to the Sea of Oman in Barka while the Sohar 2 plant is in Sohar Industrial area. (Times of Oman)

Oman government is planning to invest RO 2.9 billion for developing water transmission and pipeline network for the next twenty years under a long term master plan, even as site evaluation programs are on for building two large scale desalination plants. Plans are afoot to build one each large scale desalination plant in Qurayat and Suwaiq with a combined capacity of 400,000 cubic metres of water per day to meet the growing demand for potable water for the next five years, said PAEW. PAEW is now carrying out site selection studies for both desalination plants as these units require special conditions for better efficiency. Once the site is identified, PAEW will start the second stage of feasibility study and tender documentation. (Times of Oman)

JEDDAH - Saudi Arabia leads the way in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region construction industry with $750 billion of new projects in the pipeline, making up 31 percent of the entire regional market, Citigroup said in a new report.

As a whole, on a year-on-year basis, the value of GCC projects planned and underway crept up 2.5 percent to $1,906 billion.

Oman will allocate OMR80m (US$207.7m) annually for affordable housing projects in a bid to ease the Gulf state’s low-cost housing shortage, the undersecretary at the Ministry of Housing has said.

The Gulf state awarded OMR60m to 3,174 people through housing assistance programmes and approved 400 interest-free affordable housing loans totaling OMR7m during 2011 and the first three months of 2012, said Saif bin Amir bin Sulaiman Al Shaqsi.

The total number of ongoing construction projects in Qatar is worth over USD 250 billion. Industry experts have forecasted that over USD 100 billion is being planned to be spent on development projects as part of the preparation for the country's hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Eyeing to play a major part in this forecasted growth, Rubber World Industries (RWI), has announced its plans to position itself as a major provider of world class high quality HVAC related products through the strategic move of expanding its product offerings under the brand GULF O FLEX.

Oman International Bank has entered into an agreement with HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd to merge OIB with HSBC’s Oman branch. Following the merger, HSBC will hold 51% of the combined entity which will be re-named HSBC Bank Oman SOAG. (MSM)

At the EGM, Oman Arab Bank SAOC (OAB), Ominvest’s banking subsidiary, has approved changing the legal status of the Bank from an SAOC to SAOG through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 25% of its outstanding issued share capital, representing 290 million shares. OMINVEST will be offloading 21% of OAB’s paid up capital while Arab Bank will be offering remaining 4%.National Securities is appointed as the Issue manager while Gulf International Bank as financial valuation advisor. (MSM)

Financial Services reported 1Q12 net profit of RO 114K against net loss of RO 660K, a year earlier. (MSM)
Muscat Finance reported 1Q12 net profit of RO 964 K compared to RO 910K , a year earlier .(MSM)

Oman's annual inflation, based on the consumer price index (CPI), inched up to 3.72 per cent in February from 3.65 per cent in the previous month.

The figures come as Bank of America Merril Lynch (BoAML), in a recent global report, forecast Oman's average annual inflation for 2012 at one per cent, the lowest in the GCC. Full Story.

MUSCAT -- Bank Sohar reported a net profit of RO 5,329 million for the 1st quarter ending March 31, 2012, an increase of 74.3 per cent from the previous year. Increased business volumes and customer flows propelled total income to a new high of RO 12,563 billion an increase of 26.4 per cent.

Al Hassan Engineering Co SAOG (AHEC), Oman's leading Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contractor, has an EPC contract for the execution of a Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) for Petroleum Development Oman ( PDO ) at their Amal facility. This multi-million dollar project is to be executed on an EPC basis over a period of 22 months.

JEDDAH - Projected salary increases of workers in the MENA region for 2012 are standing at an average of 6.7 percent - with Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt and Oman planning to increase salaries most significantly over the coming year, alongside Saudi Arabia.

A partnership of the Sultanate's Oman United Engineering Services (OUES) and Portugal's Sociedade de Construções Soares da Costa has won a contract to build road infrastructure linking the Muscat Expressway with the new Muscat International Airport.