At least four major international contracting organizations are competing for a multi-billion dollar contract for the design, procurement, and construction of the unconventional Jafurah gas project, being developed by Saudi Aramco.

Scale of the Jafurah Project

The state-owned company of Saudi Arabia is gradually expanding the Jafurah project, whose value exceeds $100 billion. Several contracts related to previous expansion phases have already been signed.

The Jafurah field, which the company considers a key element of its unconventional gas production program, is estimated to contain 229 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This is the largest shale gas development project outside the United States.

Tender Process and Participants

It is expected that four contracting companies will submit commercial bids for the fifth phase of the Jafurah gas plant development in July. The contenders include India’s Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas, and China’s Sinopec and China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC).

The fifth expansion phase is expected to include significant gas compression and processing capacities, although the exact production parameters have not yet been confirmed. According to available information, the gas processing capacity at this stage will be comparable to previous phases.

Meanwhile, the contract for the fourth phase has not yet been officially signed. Although the company has selected L&T for its implementation, a final decision is still pending.

Financial Parameters

The cost of each expansion phase typically ranges from $1.5 to $2 billion. Exact figures for previous phases have not been disclosed.

Strategic Goals and Prospects

In line with government objectives, the company has revised its strategy and plans to increase gas production by 80% by 2030 compared to 2021 levels. In 2021, production was about 9.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day, and by 2030, this figure could reach 16.8 billion cubic feet per day.

Jafurah is central to the gas production expansion program and is the largest active gas project in the Middle East. By 2030, the plan is to produce 2 billion cubic feet of marketable gas, 420 million cubic feet of ethane, and 630,000 barrels of associated liquids per day.

The growth in gas production at Jafurah is aimed at meeting the rising demand from utilities, industry, and the country’s petrochemical sector. The gas production expansion program is considered the largest in the company’s history, and by 2030, gas and associated liquids output is expected to reach about 6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The Need for New Capacities

To achieve the targeted growth, new production capacities must be commissioned and existing infrastructure used more efficiently. The transition from 2021 production levels to the planned volumes means an additional increase of more than 7 billion cubic feet of gas per day over the next decade.