Infrastructure 
MENA+ Edition 
Egypt Edition 
UAE Edition 
Saudi Edition 
AI + Innovation (MENA) 
Here’s what we’re tracking today
The seams
Plus: Adnoc’s Hormuz bypass pipeline could be up and running as soon as early next year
Thursday, 29 October 2026
Gigawatts, licensed
Our Lede this morning is about the other infrastructure in range: the Gulf’s AI. Two of Amazon Web Services’ UAE facilities were struck in March, and the UAE’s licence-free access to advanced US chips runs only until 6 April 2027, after which G42 and Core42 must become US companies or apply to the US Bureau of Industry and Security. Saudi Arabia holds a license that “may be ephemeral,” June Park of Singapore Management University tells us. We ask who owns the Gulf’s AI, and what its owners do when the racks are the target.
Today at a glance
Transportation
Rail
The GCC railway would solve half of the Gulf’s Hormuz problem, and the half it can’t solve sits beyond the Gulf’s borders
The network stops at the Gulf's edge, and border rules…
Ports
Mubadala and Trafigura shelve USD 5 bn Brazil port sale as iron ore market weakens
Itaminas, one of the port's customers, is halting a plant…
Aviation
Fuel costs are making Gulf airlines rethink how long to keep older jets flying
With new jets still years late, Qatar is retiring, Emirates…
Storage + Warehouses
Alexandria’s transit cargo is growing, and three partners want to process some of it at Dekheila
The Alexandria Port Authority, Hassan Allam Utilities, and Al Tarek…
Projects
Business
Explainers
Inside the split between oil on paper and oil in hand
The war exposed the gap between futures prices and physical…
East Port Said, Tanger ports face a new challenge with Europe’s carbon rules for shipping — but green bunkering can help
To prevent losing volumes to non-EU transhipment hubs and evasive rerouting, the EU set up a list of high-risk neighboring container transhipment…
