ENERGY-

Halliburton is set to finish preparation work on four deepwater gas wells in Egypt by December, an official source told Al Arabiya. The nearly-completed wells include two in the Burullus offshore gas field in the Mediterranean and two in BP’s Raven gas field in Alexandria.

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The details: The American oil giant has already brought one well online as part of the tenth phase of the Burullus project, with another set to be finalized this week, adding a combined 150-200 cubic feet of gas per day to the field’s output. Halliburton also plans to bring two new wells in BP’s Raven field online by mid-November, with the first to be ready for production within days.

Plus, well-stimulation tech: The company is also reportedly rolling out well-stimulation technologies across key fields to boost output, in line with the government’s push to stymie production declines, the source told Al Arabiya.

CONSTRUCTION-

Our friends at Hassan Allam Construction Saudi are set to participate in the construction of a monorail project in Riyadh, after inking an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Financial District Development (KAFD), according to a press release (pdf). The project, which will be carried out alongside Chinese rail firm CRRC and CRRC Nanjing Puzhen, will span 3.6 km and will consist of six trains traveling along a circular track with six stations, with an expected capacity of 3.5k passengers per hour.

What they said: “We are proud to partner with KAFD DMC and CRRC, and are honored to play a pivotal role in the KAFD monorail project, a landmark development in Riyadh that signifies a significant milestone in our mission to enhance transportation networks and drive sustainable economic growth. This project underscores our long-standing commitment to Saudi Arabia, and we look forward to continuing our efforts to pioneer innovative solutions that contribute to the Kingdom’s growth and prosperity,” Hassan Allam Holding co-CEO Amr Allam said.

REAL ESTATE-

SODIC wants to increase non-real estate activities’ proportion of total revenue: EGX-listed real estate developer SODIC aims to up its revenues from hotel, administrative, sporting, and commercial activities to between 12-15% of the firm’s total revenues within five years, SODIC general manager Ayman Amer told Asharq Business.

Real estate prices to see another spike? SODIC expects real estate prices to go up by 15% as a result of the recent energy price hikes, Amer added.

HOSPITALITY-

Q Developments is launching boutique hotel in Alexandria: Real estate developer Q Developments is setting up an EGP 300 mn, 40-room boutique hotel in Alexandria’s San Stefano with plans to open its doors early next year, CEO Ahmed Thabet told EnterpriseAM.

More projects in the pipeline: The company is also developing Q North in the North Coast, a EGP 10 bn, 100-feddan project that includes a 240-room Novotel-branded hotel and 1.6k residential units.

REGULATIONS-

FRA tightens rules on brokerage firm transfers: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has issued a new decision that prevents brokerage firms from making financial transfers between client accounts or receiving deposits from anyone other than the account holder, Al Mal reports. The new rules aim to cut down on fraud and ensure a secure investment environment, with the only exceptions granted to spouses and first- and second-degree relatives — such as siblings, children, and grandparents.

AUTOMOTIVE-

Mitsubishi’s local agent sets up freezone: Diamond Motors — Mitsubishi’s sole agent in Egypt — has set up a freezone in Alexandria to streamline vehicle and spare parts imports and exports, Al Mal reports citing an authorized Mitsubishi distributor. The move aims to cut down on hefty port storage fees, which have risen to EGP 40-50 per vehicle per day and USD 130 per container, while leveraging the facilities offered by freezones.

EXPANSIONS-

Medcom Aswan eyes EGP 6 bn cement plant in Libya: Medcom Aswan for Cement is in negotiations with Libyan investors over launching a EGP 6 bn cement plant in Tripoli by 2027, Al Mal reports citing the company’s commercial head Mohamed Adel. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 1 mn tons and will target Libya’s local market and African export markets including Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania.

More exports to come? The company plans to step into new export markets like Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire early next year, he said.

REMEMBER- Libya is an attractive market for investments: Libya offers an investment-friendly environment, on top of its extremely cheap energy prices, making it an attractive investment destination for energy-intensive industries like iron, cement, and ceramics, Federation of Egyptian Industries’ Mohamed El Bahy previously told EnterpriseAM.

ALSO WORTH NOTING-

#1- Visa’s token tech is coming soon: Visa will activate its digital token technology in Egypt within the next two months. Visa has been working with the central bank on the operational trials for months now.

#2- Etihad Airways launches flights to Alamein: UAE’s Etihad Airways will launchtwice-weekly flights to Alamein starting July 2025.

#3- United Bank launched a new savings account — dubbed Safwa — with an annual return of up to 30%. You’ll need a minimum of EGP 500k to open a Safwa account.

#4- Sixteen new Tata car models to be launched next year: MM Group for Industry and International Trade is set to launch 16 new Tata vehicle models locally in 2025.

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