Arcapita plans more than USD 1.5 bn for GCC industrial and logistics property

Arcapita is wagering the war will lift demand for modern logistics space in the Gulf: The Bahrain-based investment firm plans to invest more than USD 1.5 bn in industrial and logistics property across the GCC over the next two years, Asharq Business reports. That would grow the regional portfolio it already holds, worth more than USD 2 bn, by roughly three-quarters, by our math.

The company points to two drivers: Trade disruption from the Iran war and a shortage of modern facilities are opening room for new investment, Arcapita says. Companies looking to secure their supply chains are driving demand for modern infrastructure, said Sheikh Isa bin Husam Al Khalifa, CEO of Lintara, the real estate firm Arcapita launched in 2025.

Lintara will buy and build space to order for specific tenants. Arcapita plans to put the money through Lintara, prioritizing acquisitions and developments designed around the operations of regional and global companies. Lintara already manages 32 industrial and logistics properties across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain, covering about 6.6 mn sq ft (c. 613k sqm, by our math).

Asmo and DP World are among the tenants it has built for: Arcapita is funding and owning a 1.4 mn sqm logistics facility for Asmo, the Aramco-DHL JV, at Saudi Arabia’s Spark energy hub, which Asmo will develop and operate under a 22-year lease. Construction began this year. In Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone, Arcapita completed a complex for DSV and opened a 20k sqm logistics center for DP World.

The middleman

India’s top LNG importer wants some of its Qatari gas to come from the US: Petronet LNG is in talks with QatarEnergy to source part of the 7.5 mn tons a year under their renewed contract from the US, group general manager Vivek Mittal told analysts, Reuters reports. Qatar is willing to consider offering a “certain portion of volume from other sources which they have tied up,” Mittal said, as India looks to diversify its supply after the Iran war disrupted imports.

QatarEnergy delivers cargoes to India under the new contract: The current contract expires in April 2028 and has been renewed for 20 years through 2048. Under the new agreement, QatarEnergy delivers the LNG ex-ship to terminals across India on its own fleet.

Qatar’s own US supply starts after the new contract does. QatarEnergy has recently agreed to buy 3 mn tons a year from Woodside’s Louisiana LNG project from 2030 and up to 4 mn tons a year from Cheniere’s US terminals starting in 2031. Both agreements kick in after Petronet’s renewal. If the Indian importer wants US cargoes from day one, QatarEnergy would have to source them elsewhere.

Petronet is still feeling the force majeure: QatarEnergy’s force majeure, declared in March, runs through December for now, and Petronet has suspended time charters on three LNG tankers because of it, Reuters says. India has been buying LNG from the US, Oman, Nigeria, Angola, and Australia instead.

REMEMBER- QatarEnergy bought 33 US spot cargoes by end-July for customers in South Korea, Taiwan, Bangladesh, India, and Japan, against four in all of last year.

The supply agreements will make Qatar the largest buyer of US LNG, its main rival for new supply: The US is expected to account for more than half of the roughly 300 bcm of LNG export capacity coming online worldwide in 2025-2030, and Qatar for about a quarter, according to IEA estimates cited by Reuters. Qatar has no LNG export route other than Hormuz, and the March attacks on Ras Laffan removed about 17% of its export capacity.

More could follow: QatarEnergy’s CEO Saad Al Kaabi told Reuters last week that he expects to sign further supply agreements with US and other producers before year-end.