From $55 billion in new project awards to robots on inspection duty, here are five numbers that tell the story of UAE energy in 2026, and what they mean for the industry.

Large project awards, new chemical investments and new inspection technology have put UAE energy in the headlines throughout 2026. Most of the coverage has focused on the size of the deals. Far less has been said about what comes after them: how all these new assets will be run, inspected and protected for decades.

At 1FRANKLIN, that second story is the one we follow most closely, because it shapes the conversations we bring to our events. Here are five numbers that capture the year, and why each one matters for the people who keep the region’s energy assets safe and reliable.

1. $55 billion in new energy projects

In May, the UAE’s national energy company confirmed plans for AED 200 billion ($55 billion) in new project awards for 2026 to 2028. That points to a major wave of engineering, procurement and construction activity across the sector over the next three years.

It’s natural for attention to settle on the build phase. But construction is only the start of an asset’s life. Plants and pipelines in the UAE will operate for decades in high heat, humidity and salty coastal air, conditions that are tough on steel and on the coatings that protect it.

This is where asset integrity comes in: the work of keeping equipment safe, reliable and fit for purpose throughout its working life. It starts much earlier than many people expect. Choices made at the design stage, from materials and coating systems to insulation and access for inspection, will shape maintenance costs for years to come.Who is going to protect all of it?

Most of that investment ends up as steel. Steel in the desert sun. Steel in salt spray. Steel under insulation, underground and underwater. And from the day it is commissioned, that steel starts a quiet, slow fight with corrosion.

2. $28.5 billion in chemicals agreements

The UAE’s industrial base is also widening. At its chemicals hub in Al Ruwais, the UAE’s industrial chemicals platform signed long-term offtake, feedstock and sales agreements worth AED 104.6 billion ($28.5 billion) across methanol, PVC, EDC, VCM, caustic soda, salt and natural gas.

For engineers who have spent most of their careers in oil and gas, chemical plants bring a different set of challenges. Different substances and process conditions mean different forms of corrosion. Under certain temperature and concentration conditions, for example, caustic solutions can cause stress corrosion cracking in carbon steel, while chlorides can cause pitting and cracking in some stainless steels.

As the sector grows, integrity teams will need to broaden their knowledge of materials and damage mechanisms to keep pace.

3. $2 billion for the UAE’s first world-scale methanol plant

One of the clearest examples of that shift is the UAE’s first world-scale methanol plant in Al Ruwais, which reached financial close on AED 7.34 billion ($2 billion) in May.

The UAE already has deep experience across oil, gas and process industries. A world-scale methanol plant, however, is a new type of facility for the country. Decisions on materials, commissioning, inspection planning and maintenance skills will benefit from the experience of operators who have run similar plants elsewhere.

That makes international knowledge sharing especially valuable during design, commissioning and the first years of operation, while local capability continues to grow.

4. An industry first: robots on inspection rounds

Technology is changing how assets are looked after, too. At a UAE gas compression plant, a heavy-duty robot now carries out routine inspections in hazardous areas, in what was described as an industry first.

The safety benefit is clear: fewer people need to enter high-risk areas for routine checks. Robots can also collect data more often and more consistently than manual rounds. The real value, though, depends on what happens next. Data has to be validated, problems spotted early and findings turned into the right maintenance decisions.

Many operators do this through risk-based inspection (RBI), an approach that focuses inspection effort on the equipment most likely to fail, or where a failure would have the most serious consequences.

5. Only 4.5% of the world’s exhibition space

Our final number comes from the events industry, and it connects the other four. The world now has 45.2 million sqm of indoor exhibition space across 1,565 venues, and the Middle East and Africa hold just 4.5% of it, according to the 2026 World Map of Exhibition Venues.

The region’s events infrastructure is growing, but it remains small compared with the scale of its energy investment. Large energy shows play an important role. Yet the technical challenges described above, from design decisions to chemical service and inspection data, are often best worked through at focused events, where specialists from the same field can share experience in depth.

What it all adds up to

Taken together, these five numbers point to three clear trends: more assets to protect, new technical challenges as the industry diversifies, and smarter inspection that depends on skilled people to act on the results. Each one increases the need for specialists to learn from one another.

Our view: “The region’s energy investment is growing fast. The expertise to protect it needs to grow just as fast.”
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Three questions worth raising with your team:

• Are integrity, coatings and inspection access built into the design of our upcoming projects?

•  If we move into chemical service, do we understand the damage mechanisms involved?

•  Are we ready to act on more inspection data, not just collect it?

Where 1FRANKLIN fits in

At 1FRANKLIN, we organise specialist B2B events for the energy and industrial sectors, built around real industry challenges. That thinking shapes Corrosphere 2027, our event for corrosion control, protective coatings and asset integrity professionals from oil and gas and maritime, taking place in April 2027.

The themes in this blog, from integrity at the design stage and chemical-service materials to robotic and digital inspection, are the kind of conversations the programme is being built around. If you’re an engineer or operator with a case study to share, we’d be glad to hear from you.

Be part of Corrosphere 2027
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