Aramco Grants $7.7B in EPC Contracts to Add Gas Capacity to its Fadhili Plant

Aramco granted engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts worth $7.7 billion to SAMSUNG Engineering Company, GS Engineering & Construction Corp., and Nesma & Partners for a major expansion of its Fadhili Gas Plant in eastern Saudi Arabia—the Fadhili Gas Plant Increment Project. The increase in the plant’s processing capacity, from 2.5 to up to 4 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscfd), will help the company reach its goal to increase gas production by more than 60% by 2030 in comparison to 2021 levels.

“The award of these contracts reflects Aramco’s goal to increase supplies of natural gas, help efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and free up more crude oil for value-added refining and export,” said Wail Al Jaafari, EVP of Technical Services, Aramco. “Together with leading international companies, we are advancing our goal to increase gas production. The expansion also supports our ambitions to develop a lower-carbon hydrogen business, while associated liquids from gas are an important feedstock for the petrochemical industry.”

The Fadhili Gas Plant expansion is slated for completion by November 2027 and is expected to add an extra 2,300 metric tons per day to sulfur production.

Fadhili Gas Plant; Image Credits: Aramco

In February 2024, Aramco explored the Jafurah unconventional field in Saudi Arabia and recorded 15 trillion standard cubic feet (scf) of raw gas and two billion stock tank barrels (STB) of condensate as proven reserves. With the addition of the Jafurah reserves, the company estimates that the field contains a total resource of 229 trillion scf of raw gas, alongside an estimated 75 billion STB of condensate.

These estimates were calculated using a novel approach to shale reserves booking, which was applied to unconventional resources and has potential to be deployed at scale. Reserve booking practices were assessed through establishing continuity of resources and consistency of performance. Aramco is currently working to deliver production at Jafurah unconventional field, with plans to accelerate to reach a sustainable sales gas rate of two billion scfd by 2030. Production will also be extended to add volumes of ethane, natural gas liquids, and condensate.

“This achievement enhances the Kingdom’s hydrocarbon wealth through proven reserves of gas, which is a vital resource for the energy and chemicals industries,” said Amin H. Nasser, President & CEO, Aramco. “Aramco’s upstream business is deploying state-of-the-art technologies including advanced modeling and artificial intelligence to make tangible progress in developing Jafurah, which is one of the company’s growth engines and an important economic resource for the Kingdom. The field represents a key element in our strategy to increase Aramco’s gas production.”

At this year’s Baker Hughes Annual Meeting, Abdulkarim A. Al-Ghamdi, Executive Vice President for Gas at Saudi Aramco, said the company is targeting a 50% increase in gas production over the next five years supported by major investment in carbon capture and storage. The nation intends to double its natural gas generation capacity and add up to 7 GW of combined-cycle capacity awarded each year for the next decade.