Aramco Allocates US$ 25 Billion to Gas Expansion, Signs 69 New Contracts

Aramco, a prominent global integrated energy and chemicals company, has allocated over $25 billion in contracts to advance its strategic gas expansion initiative. The goal is to increase sales gas production by more than 60% by 2030, compared to levels in 2021.

The contracts pertain to the second phase development of the extensive Jafurah unconventional gas field, expansion of Aramco’s Master Gas System in its third phase, new gas rigs, and ongoing capacity maintenance.

Amin H. Nasser, President & CEO of Aramco, stated: “These contract awards underscore our strong belief in the future of gas as a critical energy source and a vital feedstock for downstream industries. Our significant investment in Jafurah and the expansion of our Master Gas System highlight our commitment to enhancing and expanding our gas operations in anticipation of increasing demand. This aligns with our strategy to diversify our portfolio, create new employment opportunities, and support Saudi Arabia’s shift towards a lower-emission power grid, where gas and renewables progressively replace liquid-based power generation. Achieving this milestone required extensive hard work, innovation, and a resilient 'can do' spirit from teams across our extensive network of suppliers and service providers, who have partnered with Aramco to build and expand our world-class energy infrastructure.”

The company has granted 16 contracts totaling approximately $12.4 billion for the phase two advancement of Jafurah. This phase includes building gas compression facilities and related pipelines, expanding the Jafurah Gas Plant with new gas processing units, utilities, sulfur management, and export infrastructure. Additionally, it encompasses the construction of the Riyas Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) fractionation facilities in Jubail, including NGL fractionation units, utilities, storage, and export infrastructure to handle NGL from Jafurah.

An additional 15 lump sum turnkey contracts, totaling approximately $8.8 billion, have been awarded to initiate phase three expansion of the Master Gas System. This system distributes natural gas throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, the expansion project aims to enlarge the network and enhance its total capacity by an additional 3.15 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscfd) by 2028. This will involve installing approximately 4,000 kilometers of pipelines and 17 new gas compression trains.

In addition, Aramco has awarded 23 contracts for gas rigs totaling $2.4 billion, as well as two directional drilling contracts valued at $612 million. Furthermore, between December 2022 and May 2024, 13 well tie-in contracts at Jafurah, worth a total of $1.63 billion, were also awarded.

Progress Update on Jafurah:

The Jafurah unconventional gas field holds an estimated 229 trillion standard cubic feet of raw gas and 75 billion Stock Tank Barrels of condensate. Phase one of the Jafurah development program, which began in November 2021, is proceeding as planned, with initial operations anticipated to commence in the third quarter of 2025. Aramco anticipates that the total lifecycle investment at Jafurah will surpass $100 billion. By 2030, the project aims to achieve a sustainable sales gas rate of two billion standard cubic feet per day, along with significant quantities of ethane, natural gas liquids (NGL), and condensate.