Saudi Aramco receives bids for gas expansion project

KHOBAR (Saudi Arabia): Saudi Aramco has received bids from international engineering companies to build gas booster compressor stations at Haradh and Hawiyah, industry sources said, as the country plans to diversify its energy mix.

The contracts are part of a $4 billion scheme to increase gas production in the country for domestic consumption.

Saudi Arabia’s domestic gas demand has been rising mainly due to the growth of industrial sectors, which the country wants to develop further.

Last week, Asian and European companies submitted bids for the expansion of the Hawiyah gas plant. Aramco plans to expand the processing capacity at Hawiyah by 1.3 billion standard cubic feet per day (scfd). It currently processes 2.5 billion scfd of gas.

The companies that have made bids are: South Korean Hyundai Development Co Engineering & Construction (HDEC), GS Engineering and Construction, Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas, Italy’s Saipem, Chinese Shandong Electric Power Construction Corp (SEPCO), India’s Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Taiwan’s CTCI and Britain’s Petrofac

Taiwan’s CTCI said they had made a bid for the project, declining to give details.

Hyundai Development Co Engineering & Construction said the company submitted the bid, expecting results to be out at the end of the year or early next year. TR was not available for comment and Petrofac provided no comment.

Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Saudi Aramco is implementing a two-phase plan to expand its Master Gas System, built in the mid-1970s to gather and process associated gas from oil wells for domestic industry.

It is scheduled to complete the first phase of the capacity expansion of system by the end of this year by installing facilities, including the booster compressor stations.