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A joint venture of Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp) and China’s Jinko Power Technology has won a contract to build, own and operate the 500MW Manah Solar II independent power project (IPP) in Manah, under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP).

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is preparing to launch a new body to oversee shipbuilding and ship maintenance and repair services in the kingdom in the near future, in its latest effort to diversify the economy and develop new industrial sectors.

Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom), a subsidiary of state-owned Energy Development Oman (EDO), signed six term-sheet agreements with developers to invest in green hydrogen projects worth more than OR20bn ($52bn) and involving some 15GW of renewable energy capacity.

National carrier Saudia's fleet will be updated with at least 39 new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, but newly-established Riyadh Air could get even more, underlining Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s determination that yet another Public Investment Fund (PIF) vehicle muscles into the domestic market. The deal is worth close to $37bn, US government officials calculated – suggesting that, whatever the geopolitics, America Inc can still flex its muscles in the kingdom.

A UN-brokered deal to remove some 1m barrels of crude from the FSO Safer should avert an environmental disaster at the dangerously unstable wreck near Yemen's Hodeidah port and also points to increasing scope for deals between the Houthis and other authorities.

Iranian officials have announced a large lithium discovery in Hamedan province, south-west of Tehran. Iran is planning to seek international expertise to develop the reserves and to tap private sector investment, but the search for overseas partners will be complicated by US sanctions on the mining sector.

Somalia has been accused by the Sanaa-based Petroleum Exploration and Production Authority (Pepa) of having an unofficial maritime map that includes offshore blocks that are in Yemeni waters. The dispute adds to an already complex situation for the oil and gas sector, amid the ongoing civil war. Despite that, Sanaa authorities say they are seeking interest from IOCs in offshore blocks.

Updates on Regional and international organisations: Another Kuwaiti GCC secretary-general Regional electricity interconnection Support for Palestinians Arab League intellectual property committee World Bank leadership Updates on Opec and energy markets: Bumper year for revenues Opec+ holds solid Alternatives to the dollar? China and India are key players

Leaked Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) documents suggest the region’s crude oil production could reach 580,000 b/d by 2027, compared to about 430,000 b/d in 2022 – but only under the most optimistic scenario where investment is fully optimised.

A hydrocarbons law in Iraq is in the offing, which could provide a stable revenue-sharing platform for years to come, but big obstacles remain to be resolved, leaving Iraqi Kurds in political and financial limbo, while the Kurdish regional oil industry stutters even as big gas developments are being promoted.

The mountainous province in Saudi Arabia's south-west has been earmarked as a future centre for tourism, notwithstanding the threats posed by attacks from Houthi rebels across the border in Yemen. Asir could be a model for Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s post-oil development ambitions, as well as for more short-term efforts to stabilise potentially restless populations.

Following threats to refer firms to the General Authority for Competition, the Public Investment Fund has acquired shareholdings in four major contracting companies, giving PIF chair Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman an equity stake he has long had his eye.

The Saudi Fund for Development has agreed to inject $320m into a joint project to build the infrastructure to support a new special economic zone (SEZ) in Oman’s Al-Dhahirah governorate.

The Iraqi government has said it plans to launch a sixth licensing round in the near future, as it makes a renewed effort to boost domestic production of natural gas and reduce imports which it says are costing the state some ID10trn ($6.9bn) a year.

Oman LNG signed a binding term-sheet agreement with China International United Petroleum and Chemical Company (Unipec) to supply 1m tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year for four years, starting in 2025. Oman LNG also signed a ten-year, 1m/yr deal with Turkey’s Botas Petroleum Pipeline Corporation.