Saudi Aramco’s Wasit gas plant.

Oil, gas and petrochemical projects, valued at more than $859 billion, are either under way or planned in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), a report revealed.

Of these, $283 billion worth of projects are being implemented as the region gets ready to meet the forecast increases in demand for energy over the next two decades.

According to industry forecasts, global oil demand will increase by at least 10 million barrels per day by 2040, while natural gas demand is set to grow by 40 per cent and petrochemicals by 60 per cent. The increase in demand for petroleum and petrochemicals in particular is driving downstream investment across the Mena region, says dmg, organiser of Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition (Adipec).

According to research conducted by Meed, a business intelligence and analytics specialist, Saudi Aramco is the largest single spender in the region’s oil and gas sector, with more than $31 billion worth of contracts under execution. The next three highest spenders are Kuwait’s three largest oil and gas companies with a combined $42.2 billion worth of projects under way.

Meed says, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has projects with a combined contract value of $16.7 billion under execution across both its onshore and offshore upstream businesses. Outside the GCC, Iraq’s State Company for Oil Project and Algeria’s Sonatrach have $13.7 billion worth of projects in progress.

Leading the way in terms of pre execution contract values is Iraq’s Ministry of Oil with projects worth $19.5 billion in the pipeline, $13.7 billion of which is in the bidding phase, according to a list of top oil and gas projects under execution, compiled by Meed.

Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum has plans for $12.3 billion worth of projects; the Kuwait Oil Company has a $12.3 billion project pipeline and Sonatrach has announced plans to go ahead with $10.8 billion-worth of projects, including a $2.5 billion contract for the Hassi Messaoud refinery.

Adipec (November 11 to 14) is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, hosted by Adnoc and supported by the UAE Ministry of Energy, the Abu Dhabi Chamber, and the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority.