Good morning, all. It’s a heavy start to the week. A missile hit King Khalid International on Saturday, killing 12 and injuring more than 300, the third strike on the airport in a week. We lead with the aftershocks on the Kingdom’s airspace and what that means for its marquee business season, with the World Petroleum Council Energy Congress opening today and FII following later this month. Who’s still coming, who’s pulling back, and what organizers need to see before they commit are all in War Watch.

Away from the airport, Aramco is looking for ways around Hormuz. The company is exploring overland export routes to Europe and reworking how it sells crude to Asia. We look at how far those plans have progressed and what they could mean for buyers. Plus, Aramco is putting USD 200 mn behind a pilot to extract battery-grade lithium from oilfield brine.

On a more positive note, Saudi cranes are still up. Saudi construction kept expanding last quarter, and the Kingdom holds nearly half the Gulf’s project pipeline, even as new awards slipped and input costs hit a yearly high.

Happening today

Riyadh Energy Week kicks off today and runs through Thursday, 15 October, bringing together ministers, energy executives, and industry groups to discuss energy security and sustainability. The week opens with the IEF17 Ministerial Meeting, hosted by Saudi Arabia alongside Italy and Nigeria, while the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation meetings are taking place today through Tuesday.

The WPC Energy Congress anchors the week and opens tomorrow at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Center, with discussions spanning oil and gas markets, supply security, and how lower-carbon systems fit into the sector.

EVs move beyond the factory floor

Saudi Arabia’s EV push is starting to fill in the commercial infrastructure around the cars. Ceer has opened reservations for its limited-run Exobot First Edition sedan and SUV at SAR 399k apiece, launching sales through its first mobile store at Bujairi Terrace in Diriyah, according to a company statement. The carmaker says regular production will begin in 1Q 2027.

The sales network is already taking shape. Ceer plans for mobile stores at Boulevard City in Riyadh, Red Sea Mall in Jeddah, and Nakheel Mall in Dammam before year-end, alongside permanent centers in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Khobar covering sales, test drives, deliveries, servicing, and spare parts.

ICYMI- Ceer unveiled the Exobot sedan and SUV last month as the first two of seven models planned for the next five years. The carmaker plans to expand to other GCC countries in 2028, followed by a gradual rollout across the broader MENA region that is expected to run through 2034, Ceer CEO James DeLuca said.

Meanwhile, Lucid has opened a dedicated body-and-paint repair center in Riyadh, adding collision repair and diagnostics capacity to its existing studios, service centers, and mobile service operation in the Kingdom, Zawya reports.

Commercial fleets are getting an EV push too. Danish transport and logistics company DSV will begin electrifying part of its Riyadh fleet under a tie-up with Saudi EV supplier Hala Auto and Saudi EV charging infrastructure company EVIQ. Hala will supply electric cargo vans and trucks, while EVIQ will build dedicated depot charging infrastructure for DSV and give the fleet access to its wider charging network. The partners did not disclose the number of vehicles or chargers involved.

REMEMBER- We wrote last month that the harder part of Saudi Arabia’s EV wager was building the ecosystem around the factories — including demand, charging, and aftersales. These three developments put activity into each of those buckets.

Almarai’s next big bite

Almarai plans to invest more than USD 4 bn through 2031 under its newly approved growth strategy, with the spending going toward additional capacity and capabilities across the food giant’s operations, according to a company statement. The plan will focus on growing its core categories, selectively entering new ones, expanding channels including foodservice and e-commerce, and building its presence in priority markets.

The strategy gives Almarai another runway for diversification: The company has been expanding beyond its established dairy, poultry, bakery, and juice businesses into newer categories, including bottled water following its SAR 1 bn acquisition of Pure Beverages last year.

REMEMBER- Almarai laid out a separate SAR 18 bn investment program through 2028 back in 2024, with poultry accounting for the largest chunk of planned spending.

Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to fill up Asia’s reserves

Saudi Arabia and the UAE will support the Japanese initiative to increase oil supplies in Southeast Asia, Bloomberg reports. Discussions on the matter took place during a meeting of the Asia Zero Emission Community and covered cooperation on oil purchases and strategic stockpiles. The proposed framework could let buyers negotiate bilateral supply directly with Gulf producers.

“Both countries from the Middle East expressed their willingness to cooperate on strengthening oil stockpiling capacity in Asia,” Japan’s State Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Takagi Kei said. Tokyo sourced about 90% of its oil from the region, most of it through Hormuz, before the conflict between the US and Iran broke out. More than half of Southeast Asia’s oil imports traditionally come from Gulf producers.

REMEMBER- The two GCC countries were expected to back the initiative, as they both asked Tokyo to bolster their existing Japan-based crude inventories roughly tenfold from around 8 mn barrels each. Aramco also holds 5.3 mn barrels in South Korea, with Seoul holding emergency purchase rights.

PSAs

Jeep Grand Cherokee owners should check whether their vehicle needs a software update. The Commerce Ministry has recalled nearly 3k vehicles from the 2023 and 2024 model years over a software defect that could delay side-airbag deployment in a crash, according to state news agency SPA. Owners can check whether their vehicle is affected by entering its VIN on Recalls.sa and contact Petromin Stellantis for a software update at no cost.

Data point

16.6 mn tonnes — that’s how much cargo Saudi ports handled in September, down 25% y-o-y from 22.1 mn tonnes, the Saudi Ports Authority said on X. Liquid bulk accounted for 6.17 mn tonnes, followed by dry bulk at 3.53 mn tonnes and general cargo at 720.4k tonnes. Container handling fell 4.46% to 625.3k TEUs, while livestock volumes rose 68.8% to 574.5k heads. Vessel traffic slid 23.9% y-o-y to 1,039 ships.

The gas crunch gave Egypt every reason to speed up its energy transition, and the question now is who builds it and who pays for it.

Power Trip, our four-part signature series, turns this week to the transition and the private developers now building much of Egypt’s new power.

Issue II looks at how the deals behind these projects work, who is lending to them, and why the country is building a nuclear plant at El Dabaa alongside its solar and wind farms. We also look at whether the regional crisis has finally pushed industry toward renewables, and at the factories Egypt is counting on to build its own panels, batteries, and turbines.

Tap here to subscribe to the Egypt edition and get Power Trip delivered straight to your inbox.

***

You’re reading EnterpriseAM Saudi, your essential daily roundup of business, economics, and must-read news about Saudi, delivered straight to your inbox. We’re out Sunday through Thursday by 7am Riyadh time.

EnterpriseAM Saudi is available without charge thanks to the generous support of our friends at Tas’heel and Hassan Allam Properties.

Want to send us a story idea, request coverage, ask for a correction, or otherwise get in touch? Reach out to us on [email protected].

DID YOU KNOW that we also cover MENA+, Egypt, the UAE, and the MENA logistics industry?

Were you forwarded this email? Tap or click here to get your own copy of EnterpriseAM Saudi delivered every weekday.

***

The big story abroad

Chipmaking giant Nvidia is weighing a takeover of, or a bigger stake in, US AI startup Reflection AI, which builds open-weight models. Discussions are in their early stages and could result in an acqui-hire, among other options, wherein Nvidia would license technology and hire staff without fully acquiring the company, bypassing potential regulatory delays. Nvidia has already invested USD 800 mn in Reflection AI.

Russia has agreed to release 500k tons of diesel into international markets, without specifying a timeline, partially lifting its ban on diesel exports following an agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. Effective Saturday, oil companies in Russia will negotiate export contracts with foreign buyers in coordination with the government.

Indian security forces locked down parts of Delhi yesterday to block a planned rally demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Thousands of security personnel were deployed across the capital, and more than 2k protesters were detained, including the founder of the Cockroach youth movement that organized the demonstration. Protesters accuse Kumar of overseeing voter list revisions that critics contend unfairly favor Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Gulf’s sovereign funds and largest companies are committing billions to AI infrastructure at home and to AI companies in the US and beyond. EnterpriseAM AI + Innovation reports on where that capital goes, who controls it and what it is actually buying.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we also cover the startups and established firms across MENA putting AI to work, and how it is changing jobs, education and the way business runs.

It’s sharp, analytical and skeptical journalism that ignores hype and is laser-focused on informing our readers, not pleasing our sources.

Sign up here to be among the first to get it straight to your inbox.