Oman is preparing a data center in Salalah whose first phase is expected to exceed £1 billion, about $1.3 billion. The developer is UK-based Yamna, and the agreement is with Oman's transport and communications ministry. The headline number is real, as reported. What is missing is just as important: no stated capacity, no construction date and no named customer.
The project sits inside a bigger story. According to a Bloomberg report relayed by Clash Report, Oman is trying to turn gains from the Iran war into lasting assets: port stakes, a financial center and AI infrastructure.
TL;DR: what is confirmed
| Question | Answer | Status |
|---|---|---|
| What is the project? | Salalah Al Khadra Digital, an AI and hyperscale data center | Confirmed by the Oman Observer |
| Who is the developer? | Yamna, a UK-based green energy developer | Confirmed |
| Who signed? | Yamna and Oman's transport, communications and IT ministry | Confirmed |
| How big is the first phase? | Over £1B, about $1.3B | Stated in announcement |
| Capacity in MW? | Not stated | Missing |
| Construction or opening date? | Not stated | Missing |
| Customers? | Not named | Missing |
| Is it a binding build contract? | Described as a framework or cooperation agreement | Not a finished financing |
What the announcement says
The Oman Observer reported on October 24 that Yamna signed a cooperation agreement with the ministry to build a large AI and hyperscale data center in Salalah. The agreement was signed during Sultan Haitham bin Tarik's state visit to the UK. The paper gives the investment as about $1.3 billion, or roughly RO 500 million, and notes a UK government announcement put the initial phase at over £1 billion.
The article names the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as acknowledged by Yamna. Yamna's chief executive, Abdelaziz Yatribi, is quoted as saying he is "proud that Yamna can help connect Oman's ambition with UK investment and expertise."
Yamna's approach pairs data centers with renewable generation, battery storage and potentially hydrogen-based power. The Observer says it has not been disclosed how much the Salalah site will use Yamna's separate Dhofar green hydrogen project, which envisages 4.5 GW of renewable energy.
The second project: 400 MW and a customer who has not signed
Enterprise MENA+ describes two deals in one week. The second is led by Mubbadrah Investment, an Omani conglomerate making its first known move into digital infrastructure:
- Size: $3 billion for a 400 MW AI data center.
- Partners: Sustopia Capital (UK) for financing, Vela Tech (US) for construction, and O2 Global Energy for 400 MW of co-located solar and storage.
- Customer: US firm Crusoe has signalled interest in taking the capacity. The consortium expects a formal offtake agreement "in the coming weeks," but nothing is signed.
- Caveat: Sustopia's claim of a 5 GW data center platform is the company's own.
Together the proposals exceed $4 billion on paper. On paper is the key phrase: the Yamna deal has no stated MW, and the Mubbadrah deal has no signed buyer.
Why Oman, and why now
The Bloomberg report, as relayed by Clash Report, says Oman's ports sit outside the Strait of Hormuz and the country has been relatively insulated from attacks, which helped it gain from disrupted regional trade. It lists three pushes:
- Ports. The transport minister said talks are underway on selling stakes in major terminals. A $400 million Sohar terminal deal between CMA CGM and Asyad was signed in June.
- A financial center. Muscat plans to start registering companies later this year, with full operation expected in 2027.
- AI infrastructure. The Salalah data center with Yamna.
The IMF forecasts 4.1% growth for Oman this year, while the other five Gulf Cooperation Council economies are expected to contract, per the same report. Oman's benchmark stock index is up about 24% this year.
Earlier, Oman created a special economic zone for AI in Muscat by decree, per Alhurra's analysis. The data center plans build on that.
The risks analysts name
The same sources are blunt about limits:
- Advantage may fade. Goldman Sachs economist Farouk Soussa expects Oman to outperform Gulf peers while the conflict continues, but warned that the advantage could fade after the war.
- Geography. Steffen Hertog of the London School of Economics said Oman's southern ports are not linked to the rest of the GCC, which makes becoming a global hub difficult.
- Attacks reached Salalah. Drones struck fuel tanks at Salalah's port in March, per Clash Report.
- Power and connectivity. A Middle East Observer headline asks whether Salalah's power and connectivity can carry a large AI site. We could not read it, so we cite it only as a question analysts are raising.
- Safe haven, not leader. An Omani economist quoted by Alhurra calls Oman an emerging safe center rather than a regional leader.
Gulf data centers have been targets
Alhurra reports that Iran struck two Amazon data centers in the UAE and a drone attack damaged a third in Bahrain after the war began on February 28. Amazon reported structural harm, power outages and water damage from fire suppression. Cloud disruption reached banks and payment platforms. Companies have not left the Gulf, the analysis says, but are choosing more slowly and prioritizing data protection and backup systems.
For the wider picture, see our coverage of Iran's "Persian Gulf Data Authority" claim, the UAE and Saudi AI landscape, and the Yandex Sasovo data center strike.
Server blocks with green airflow lines moving through them, picturing the cooling a Salalah AI data center would need
Timeline of Oman's AI push
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| February 28, 2026 | The Iran war begins | Alhurra |
| March 2026 | Drones strike fuel tanks at Salalah's port; strikes also hit Gulf data centers elsewhere | Clash Report, Alhurra |
| By May 4, 2026 | Oman creates an AI special economic zone in Muscat by sultanic decree | Alhurra |
| June 2026 | CMA CGM and Asyad sign a $400 million Sohar terminal deal | Clash Report |
| October 24, 2026 | Yamna signs the Salalah cooperation agreement during the Sultan's UK visit | Oman Observer |
| Week of October 25, 2026 | Mubbadrah-led $3B, 400 MW project announced | Enterprise MENA+ |
| Later in 2026 | Muscat plans to start registering companies at a new financial center | Clash Report |
| 2027 | Full financial center operations expected | Clash Report |
Read in order, the pattern is clear. The war created both the opening and the risk. Oman moved quickly on ports, finance and data centers, but the announcements so far are agreements and plans, and the hard commitments, such as capacity, power and customers, come later.
What a hyperscale AI site needs that an announcement does not show
A framework agreement says a government and a developer intend to build. A working AI campus also needs:
- Grid or on-site power. Yamna's pairing with renewables and storage is a plan, and the Observer says how much Dhofar hydrogen will be used has not been disclosed.
- Cooling and water. Hot climates raise cooling load, which affects both cost and design.
- Network capacity. Subsea and terrestrial links decide whether customers outside Oman can use the site.
- Chips. Accelerators must be bought, shipped and licensed. No source names a chip supplier for either Omani project.
- An anchor tenant. The consortium's hope of a Crusoe offtake shows how much depends on one customer.
None of these is a criticism of Oman. They are the standard checklist, and the public record answers none of them yet.
How to read a Gulf "AI hub" announcement
Gulf data center headlines tend to combine several different things. Ask these questions each time:
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Is it a framework, an MoU or a financed build? | Frameworks can lapse without penalty |
| Is capacity stated in MW? | Dollars alone do not tell you compute |
| Who is the customer? | A campus without an offtaker is a bet |
| Where does the power come from? | Power, not chips, is often the limit |
| Are chips secured? | Export rules and supply decide whether racks arrive |
| What happens if the war escalates? | Insurance and board risk appetite change |
By this test the Salalah project has a signer and a price tag and not much else. That is normal at this stage, and it is the reason to say "plans" rather than "builds."
What this means for builders and buyers
- No near-term capacity. Nothing here adds compute you can rent this year.
- Watch for the Crusoe offtake. A signed agreement would be the first concrete sign of a customer.
- Watch the chip supply. Our look at China's compute versus the US shows how much capacity depends on access to chips and power.
- Treat dollar figures as ceilings. A first phase "exceeding" a figure is a floor on spend in the announcement, not a measure of delivered capacity.
What would confirm the plan
- A published capacity figure in megawatts and a construction schedule.
- A named customer and a signed offtake, such as the Crusoe agreement the consortium expects.
- A power supply plan: grid connection, solar and storage, or hydrogen.
- Financing details from Yamna and its backers.
- Evidence of chip supply for the sites.
Until then, the accurate summary is that Oman has signed a framework with a UK developer for a data center worth about $1.3 billion in its first phase, and that the rest is still to be filled in.
Details are as reported on November 3, 2026. We relied on regional press and a relay of a Bloomberg report; we did not access the Bloomberg article itself.