Four new rigs push Arabian Drilling to a record backlog

Arabian Drilling has secured a SAR 2 bn offshore contract from Khafji Joint Operations (KJO). The four-year contract, for four high-spec jack-up rigs, is the largest single offshore award KJO has given the company and triples its rig count serving KJO, per a Tadawul filing (pdf).

The award lifts Arabian Drilling’s backlog to an all-time-high of SAR 18 bn, with revenue starting from the end of 4Q 2026. The latest contract pushes Arabian Drilling past its previous backlog record of SAR 16 bn from last month. That matters for a company that recently slipped into a loss after offshore rig suspensions.

Yet another Masar plot sale

Umm Al Qura for Development and Construction has sold a third Masar plot in under two weeks. The developer agreed to sell a 2.8k sqm boulevard-facing plot in Zone 2 of its Masar Destination project in Makkah to Makkiyoon Urban Developers for SAR 183.7 mn, per a Tadawul filing. The buyer plans to build a hospitality tower on the land.

REMEMBER- Umm Al Qura has now sold SAR 603.8 mn of Zone 3 land to Al-Diyar Al-Arabia, two Zone 2 plots to Al Rossais for SAR 310.4 mn, and this latest one as it steadily parcels out the Makkah megaproject.

Temasek is opening a Riyadh office

Singaporean state investor Temasek wants boots on the ground in the Gulf. The company, which has backed the region from afar for years, will open offices in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi and start talks with institutions in Qatar, it said in a press release. The offices, due to be running by 1H 2027 pending approvals, will house Temasek's own teams and some portfolio companies, and act as a launchpad for agreements into Central Asia and Africa.

Temasek joins a run of global investors planting flags in Riyadh including Blackrock, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Brookfield, Franklin Templeton, and PIMCO.

Brunei in the holy cities

Two PIF companies have pulled a Bruneian partner into Saudi’s holy-city developments. Rua Al Haram AlMakki and Rua Al Madinah Holding signed two collaboration agreements with Brunei’s Islamic trust fund (TAIB) per a statement. Under the first, TAIB would join Rua AlHaram AlMakki in a real estate joint venture within Makkah's King Salman Gate. The second sets up broader investment and development cooperation across Makkah, Madinah, and Brunei.

ICYMI- Brunei’s TAIB is the latest international partner Rua Al Haram Al Makki has lined up for King Salman Gate. Earlier this week it also flagged a possible SAR 21 bn transit-integrated development within the site with Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB), pairing a public bus terminal with residential, commercial, and retail space.