Saudi Arabia's state oil company, Aramco, has secured contracts exceeding $25 billion for the second phase of the Jafurah gas field expansion and the third phase of its main gas network expansion, according to CEO Amin Nasser. Speaking on Sunday, Nasser highlighted the kingdom's efforts to develop its unconventional gas reserves, which necessitate sophisticated extraction techniques akin to those employed in the shale gas industry.
Jafurah is recognized as the largest unconventional non-oil associated gas field in Saudi Arabia and stands as a significant shale gas project outside the United States. It boasts reserves of 229 trillion cubic feet of gas and 75 billion barrels of condensates. Nasser emphasized that this ambitious project is set to produce an estimated 2 billion standard cubic feet of sales gas per day by 2030, solidifying Saudi Arabia's status as a leading global gas producer.
During a ceremony in Dhahran, Nasser also discussed the expansion of the main gas network, which will extend by 4,000 kilometers of pipelines, enhancing capacity by approximately 3.2 billion standard cubic feet per day and linking additional cities nationwide to the network. The contracts for the Jafurah expansion were awarded to a consortium including Hyundai Engineering & Construction, while Sinopec, the Chinese state energy giant, was among the firms involved in the main gas network expansion.
