A Belgian-led consortium including Tractebel secured a $500 million contract to build a power plant and desalination facility in Oman's Sohar industrial zone. The 585-megawatt gas plant and a desalination unit producing 33 million imperial gallons daily will sell output under a 15-year deal starting in 2007.
Dolphin Energy in the UAE signed a $1.36 billion five-year bridge loan to fund a gas network linking Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Oman, with a planned extension to Pakistan. Qatar holds the world's third-largest gas reserves and the system is expected online in 2006.
Bahrain, which exports no oil, announced a $500 million artificial island off Manama, with construction beginning in August. The 552,000-square-meter complex will include a hotel, 70 chalets, 40 residential buildings, and a marina, and is expected to take five to six years to complete.
Oil prices rose as the United States reported low strategic reserves and markets doubted OPEC's short-term capacity to lift output. Gulf banks finished the first half strongly: Abu Dhabi's Union National Bank earned $62 million, up 11 percent, and Bahrain's Gulf International Bank reported $66.7 million in net income, an 8.5 percent gain.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in July 2004, in its own words.