Improved oil prices, combined with a government focus on spending, contributed to the rise, the council said LONDON: The value of joint Saudi-US contracts rose to $13 billion in the first quarter of 2019, according to a business council report. That marked the highest value of awarded contracts since the first quarter of 2015, the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council said. The value of contracts awarded during the first quarter amounted to about half of the total value in all of last year, it added. The contracts “included many vital projects, notably in the oil, gas, water and transport sectors,” Abdallah Jum’ah, the co-chair of the council, was reported as saying by Asharq Al-Awsat. Energy was the top sector, with $3.1 billion of the value of contracts awarded, with many struck by Saudi Aramco. Improved oil prices, combined with a government focus on spending, contributed to the rise, the council said. The construction sector also looks set for a recovery after many projects were put on hold due to the oil-price crash. “If the pace of awarding construction contracts witnessed during the first quarter of 2019 continues for the rest of the year, the index of awarding construction contracts may return to the range we witnessed before the canceling and postponing of mega projects due to lower oil revenue,” the council said.