Snoc awards SLB an expanded drilling contract for Sharjah’s Moveyeid and Hedebah gas fields from 2027

SLB will drill Sharjah’s next gas phases: Sharjah National Oil Corporation (Snoc) has awarded SLB an expanded framework agreement for underbalanced coiled tubing drilling at its Moveyeid gas storage field and Hedebah gas field, according to a press release. The campaign starts in 2027 and is roughly twice the size of SLB’s first one at Moveyeid in 2024, which Snoc says exceeded its drilling and production targets. Neither company disclosed a contract value or well count.

SOUND SMART- Underbalanced coiled tubing drilling keeps the pressure in the wellbore below the pressure in the reservoir. At Moveyeid, Snoc says, this lets gas be injected into and withdrawn from storage faster. At Hedebah, it supports more productive gas wells.

Storage helps Sharjah cover demand peaks: Sharjah meets demand from domestic production, contracted imports, and underground storage, we reported last month. Moveyeid lets Snoc store gas when demand is low and draw on it at peak times. Snoc completed the field’s second storage phase in late 2024.

Hedebah has already doubled Sharjah’s gas output: Snoc said last month it had completed the first development phase at the gas-condensate field, more than doubling Sharjah’s gas production. It plans further increases in 2027 and expects plateau output by 2028, though it hasn’t disclosed production volumes.

Seven-seven-wait

Emirates will now get its first Boeing 777Xs at the back end of next year, and only a handful of them. The airline expects between three and five, and “in the following year maybe 10,” President Tim Clark said at a media event in Berlin, Reuters reports. That’s 15 jets at most over two years, out of the 270 Emirates has on order as the 777X’s biggest customer.

That’s later than Emirates expected over the summer. As of July, the airline was planning for its first 777-9s in 2Q 2027. It's now in talks with Boeing to raise next year’s number, though Boeing is “fairly vague” on timing, Clark added.

Emirates could fall back on its 787 order, and will decide in about a month: Clark said the airline could use the 35 smaller Boeing 787s it has on order as a backstop if the 777X slips further. Emirates will probably decide on them in about a month, once it has more clarity on 777X production. The jets could also go to other airlines or lessors.

Until then, Emirates is flying its older jets for longer and leaning on its A350s. It has been spending nearly USD 5 bn to extend the lives of its A380s and 777s, Clark told Bloomberg last year. Between its existing fleet and incoming A350s, Emirates has some flexibility, as we reported last week. Clark also repeated his call for Airbus to build a stretched A350-2000, though he said he doesn’t know where Airbus stands on it.

IN CONTEXT- Emirates is diversifying how it funds those A350s. It has secured a 12-year shariah-compliant French lease with Dubai Islamic Bank and Natixis CIB to finance two A350-900s this year, according to a press release. Last year, HSBC closed financing for five of six A350-900s through Japanese operating lease structures. Neither financing’s value was disclosed.

Barka bytes

A 45 MW data center campus planned at Oman’s Khazaen Economic City in Barka is targeting initial operations in 2028, subject to approvals, Oman Observer reports. The Khazaen Data Campus has entered the design phase and could expand to 100 MW depending on demand. It aims to serve cloud operators, AI developers, and high-performance computing customers. The project’s promoters, Dr. Thomas Alexander and Dr. Aadil Alexander, are associated with Al Adrak Group. No investment value has been disclosed.

Oman’s bigger data center plans are in Salalah: UK green-energy developer Yamna has signed an MoU to advance a Salalah data center whose first phase is expected to cost more than GBP 1 bn, or about USD 1.3 bn, the Observer reports. A Mubadrah Investment-led consortium has proposed a USD 3 bn campus there that could eventually host up to 400 MW. US AI infrastructure firm Crusoe has expressed interest in buying capacity, but no offtake agreement has been signed.

Barka and Salalah already have the fiber links: du and Omantel activated the Oman Emirates Gateway last year, connecting Dubai’s DX1 data center with facilities in Barka and Salalah through terrestrial and subsea routes. Equinix and Omantel launched their SN1 data center in Salalah in 2024, with direct fiber connectivity to Equinix’s MC1 facility in Muscat.