Aramco forges ahead with gas expansion

Aramco has awarded contracts worth more than US$25bn to progress gas expansion, relating to phase two development of the Jafurah unconventional gas field, phase three expansion of Aramco’s Master Gas System, new gas rigs and ongoing capacity maintenance

Aramco's strategic gas expansion plan will see  sales gas production growing by more than 60% by 2030, compared to 2021 levels.

Jafurah development

Aramco has awarded 16 contracts, worth a combined total of around US$12.4bn, for phase two development at Jafurah, involving construction of gas compression facilities and associated pipelines, expansion of the Jafurah Gas Plant including construction of gas processing trains, and utilities, sulfur and export facilities. It will also involve construction of the Company’s new Riyas Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) fractionation facilities in Jubail — including NGL fractionation trains, and utilities, storage and export facilities — to process NGL received from Jafurah.

The Jafurah unconventional gas field is estimated to contain 229 trillion standard cubic feet of raw gas and 75bn Stock Tank Barrels of condensate. Initial start-up anticipated in the third quarter of 2025, with production expected to reach a sustainable sales gas rate of two billion standard cubic feet per day (bscfd) by 2030, in addition to significant volumes of ethane, NGL and condensate.

Another 15 lump sum turnkey contracts, worth a combined total of around US$8.8bn, have been awarded for the phase three expansion of the Master Gas System, involving the installation of around 4,000km of pipelines and 17 new gas compression trains, which will increase the size of the network and raise its total capacity by an additional 3.15 bscfd by 2028.

An additional 23 gas rig contracts worth US$2.4bn have also been awarded, along with two directional drilling contracts worth US$612mn and 13 well tie-in contracts at Jafurah, worth a total of US$1.63bn.

Amin H. Nasser, Aramco president & CEO, said, “These contract awards demonstrate our firm belief in the future of gas as an important energy source, as well as a vital feedstock for downstream industries. The scale of our ongoing investment at Jafurah and the expansion of our Master Gas System underscores our intention to further integrate and grow our gas business to meet anticipated rising demand. This complements the diversification of our portfolio, creates new employment opportunities, and supports the Kingdom’s transition towards a lower-emission power grid, in which gas and renewables gradually displace liquids-based power generation.”