Aramco Signs Contracts Worth $3.3 Billion for Gas Facilities in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Aramco has signed contracts worth over $3.3 billion with an international consortium composed of the Chinese company “Sinopec” and the Spanish company “Technicas Reunidas” to develop a new liquefied natural gas processing plant in the kingdom.

According to a disclosure on the Spanish stock exchange, the company “Sinopec” will own 65 percent of the project, while “Technicas Reunidas” will own 35 percent.

The Spanish company stated in a statement that the two contracts, which include engineering, procurement, and construction works, involve the construction of facilities for liquefied natural gas distillation (phase one) and shared facilities (phase two) in the “Riyas” project, including storage and export facilities.

The statement mentioned that the new facilities to be developed by the Spanish and Chinese companies will have a processing capacity of up to 510,000 barrels per day of liquefied natural gas.

It also stated that the duration of the two contracts is approximately 46 months for the first package and about 41 months for the second package.

This project is the first one awarded by “Saudi Aramco” to “Technicas” company after the recent strategic alliance signed by the Spanish company with the “Synopk” engineering group for developing joint projects.

Its main objective is to enable the fractionation of natural gas liquids and therefore produce ethane, propane, butane, and pentane.

The CEO of Aramco, Amin Nasser, had announced last October that the company is looking for more investments in the liquefied natural gas sector, aiming to become a key player in the global market for transported natural gas.

For this purpose, Aramco concluded its first-ever deal in the field of liquefied natural gas in September 2023. This was done through the purchase of a stake of around $500 million, which is subject to increase, in the company “Madd Ocean Energy” that holds shares in 4 Australian projects of liquefied natural gas.