French Suez wins a two-billion-euro contract to manage water in the Sultanate of Oman economy

The French Suez Group announced that it had won a 15-year contract to operate and maintain water and wastewater services in the Sultanate of Oman, worth 2 billion euros ($2.28 billion), in a move that reflects a broader Omani trend to develop water infrastructure, reduce waste, and raise the efficiency of resource management.

The company said in a statement issued today that the contract, which it described as its largest in the Middle East, was awarded by Nama Water Services Company to an alliance that includes Suez, the National Trading Company and the National Energy Center, and covers water and sanitation services in Muscat and the governorates of North Al Sharqiyah and South Al Sharqiyah.

The announcement of the deal came in conjunction with the visit of Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq to France, at a time when French President Emmanuel Macron seeks to expand economic partnerships with the Gulf states, especially in the areas of infrastructure, energy and water security.

The scope of the contract serves about 2.3 million people, equivalent to 43% of the population of the Sultanate of Oman, and aims to reduce water loss from 34% currently to 11% by 2040, in addition to ensuring high-quality water supplies around the clock.

The Omani News Agency reported that the Sultan and the French President witnessed the signing of 12 agreements, memorandums of understanding and a declaration of intent.

The contract includes operating and maintaining 240 wells and about 10,700 kilometers of pipelines, to distribute 470,000 cubic meters per day of drinking water, in addition to modernizing and developing 4 desalination plants and operating more than 400,000 smart meters.

In the sanitation sector, the contract includes the operation and maintenance of 22 wastewater treatment plants with a total capacity of 280,000 cubic meters per day, about 3,000 kilometers of drainage networks, and 400 kilometers of treated water networks designated for reuse, as well as the installation and operation of new household sewage connections.

Suez said that the contract is performance-based and includes 33 key performance indicators that determine the level of service and reward operators. These indicators include reducing water loss, ensuring continuous supply, and implementing preventive maintenance to improve the reliability of networks and extend the operational life of assets.

According to the company, the operational plan relies on digital solutions to monitor stations and networks, reduce energy and chemical consumption, improve leak detection, and monitor pollution or water leakage into sewage networks.

Under the partnership, Nama Water Services maintains its strategic and regulatory role in supervision and governance, while the alliance handles day-to-day operations through a dedicated company called the National Sustainable Water Alliance.

Sector under demand pressure

The deal comes at a time when the water sector in Oman is facing challenges related to high demand, expanding cities, and the need to reduce losses. According to the sustainable financing framework issued by Nama Water Services in 2024, the company manages water and wastewater services in all governorates of the Sultanate except Dhofar, and serves more than 4 million people. Its responsibilities include water distribution, wastewater collection, transportation, treatment, and safe disposal.

According to the same framework, Nama Water Services supplied 448.78 million cubic meters of drinking water in 2023, and treated 98.21 million cubic meters of wastewater, which places the company at the heart of the water and wastewater management system in the Sultanate.

At the level of Oman as a whole, the Oman News Agency, citing the National Center for Statistics and Information, reported that the total produced water reached 519.7 million cubic meters in 2024, compared to 520.4 million cubic meters in 2023, a slight decrease of 0.1%.

The data showed that Muscat Governorate recorded the highest amount of water distributed at 136.9 million cubic metres, followed by Dhofar Governorate with 52.3 million cubic metres, then North Al Batinah with 34.3 million cubic metres. The number of wastewater treatment plants reached 67 with a capacity of 147.2 million cubic metres, while desalination plants represented 89% of the total water produced, compared to 11% from wells.

Reducing waste

The Oman News Agency had reported in April 2026 that Nama Water Services was implementing strategic programs to rehabilitate water networks and replace household connections in various governorates of the Sultanate, with the aim of raising the efficiency of the water system, enhancing the reliability of supplies, and ensuring the sustainability of resources.

According to the agency, the total length of the networks that were rehabilitated reached about 1,200 kilometers, and the number of home connections that were replaced exceeded 45,000 connections, as part of efforts aimed at raising the efficiency of the network, reducing losses, and improving the quality of service to the beneficiaries.

The agency also reported in May 2026 that Oman is adopting innovative solutions to enhance its water security and ensure the sustainability of supplies, including a project to store and recover water from underground reservoirs using water injection technology, in light of expectations that demand for water will rise by about 3% annually as a result of population, urban and economic growth.