Qatar's gas sector saw almost doubled contracts, leading to a "strong" $8.8bn in overall projects awarded in the country during the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, according to Kamco Invest, a regional economic thinktank.
The total value of contracts awarded in Qatar saw a strong year-on-year (y-o-y) increase of 62.1%, attaining $8.8bn in Q1-2026 against $5.5bn in Q1-2025, Kamco Invest said, quoting data from MEED Projects.
"This expansion in contract awards was principally driven by a substantial surge in the value of projects within Qatar's gas sector, which recorded a nearly two-fold increase to reach $8.2bn in Q1-2026, up from $4.3bn in Q1-2025," the report said.
The gas sector constituted over 93% of the total contracts awarded in the country during the quarter, which was mainly due to the recent $8bn investment that Qatar has committed to building two new LNG (liquefied natural gas) processing trains with a total capacity of 16mn tonnes per year.
On the other hand, total contracts awarded in the Qatar's construction sector dipped 2.2% y-o-y to $610mn, compared to $624mn in Q1-2025.
The war in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region is expected to "thwart" the strong outlook for the GCC projects market in 2026, the report said.
So far, three countries — Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain — have declared force majeure in several of their energy production and export infrastructure, while some other remaining countries in the region have reduced their production, it said.
"This significant disruption is expected to dent the GCC countries' ability to fund projects during the year," Kamco Invest said.
However, according to MEED data, there are currently $2tn in upcoming projects in the GCC, of which Saudi Arabia has nearly 50%, followed by the UAE with 27.5% of the upcoming projects in the region.
In terms of a sectoral view of the GCC projects’ outlook, the GCC construction sector is poised to receive the lion's share of the upcoming projects (39.7%), followed by the transport sector at 16.3%, and the power sector, which is expected to receive 15.7%.
The majority of the GCC’s upcoming projects are currently in the design stage, representing a total value of $841.5bn worth of projects, followed by the study stage ($554.1bn), and the bid evaluation stage, which encompasses $220.4bn worth of projects.
The GCC projects market saw a slowdown in Q1-2026 as a direct consequence of regional instability.
According to MEED Projects, the total value of contracts awarded across the GCC declined by 9.7% y-o-y in Q1-2026, reaching $61.2bn against $67.8bn in Q1-2025.
"This contraction was driven largely by a substantial downturn in contract awards within Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which represent the two largest projects markets in the region," it said, adding in contrast, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar recorded growth in project awards during the same period
According to MEED Projects, the number of contract awards in the GCC fell from 84 in January 2026 and 80 in February 2026 to just 25 in March 2026, with the corresponding value of contract awards dropping from $20.5bn and $26bn in January and February, to only $11.8bn in March.
"The war has already impacted many aspects of life and business in the GCC countries, including supply chain delays resulting from shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the creation of negative sentiment in some of the region's key industries, such as real estate and tourism," it said.
Finding that energy exports serve as the primary revenue generators for the GCC countries, it said consequently, any disruption in the production and export of oil and gas would have a "significant negative" impact on the ability of GCC countries to fund projects.
Already, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy infrastructure has resulted in sharp oil price rises and the cessation of production in several hydrocarbon producing complexes, it added.
