Big opportunities from pipeline development

Expanding pipeline networks in the Middle East are offering fertile opportunities for contractors and technology providers

Data from Global Energy Monitor’s Global Oil Infrastructure Tracker shows the Middle East leading the continuing global expansion of crude oil transmission pipelines, as countries maintain and expanding their production and export facilities. Around 7,073 km of crude oil pipelines are under development (proposed and under construction) in the region, at an estimated capex of US$49.7bn, with Iraq and Iran topping the list.

Data in the Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker shows that 8,169 km of gas pipelines are under development in the Middle East at a cost of US$67.9bn, with Iran and Saudi Arabia leading the ranking. In Iran, new pipelines will help to meet high domestic demand from its industrial petrochemicals and residential sectors, while in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states gas pipelines will support a shift to gas as a result of energy transition strategies and plans to develop global gas businesses.

Gas pipeline networks

Saudi Arabia’s Jafurah unconventional gas development for example involves a network of around 1,500 km of main transfer pipelines, flowlines and gas gathering pipelines; while contracts have recently been awarded for the Phase 3 expansion of the Master Gas System, which involves the installation of around 4,000 km pipelines. Sinopec and L&T Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH) are among the beneficiaries, with the LTEH contract reported to be the largest cross-country pipeline EPC project awarded to the company to date.

In the UAE, ADNOC Gas awarded contracts to expand the natural gas pipeline network in 2023, and recently awarded contracts to NMDC Energy P.J. S.C and Galfar Engineering Contracting W.L.L. Emirates for the next phase of the ESTIDAMA project, which will extend the UAE’s natural gas pipeline network operated by ADNOC Gas from approximately 3,200 km to more than 3,500 km, enabling the transportation of higher volumes of natural gas to customers in the Northern Emirates.

Find out more in the latest issue of Oil Review Middle East, https://oilreviewmiddleeast.com/magazines/orme_2024_07_31/spread/?page=22