Up to five leading onshore engineering, procurement and construction contractors are understood to be preparing bids for a tender involving the onshore processing facilities required for Saudi Aramco’s Jafurah gas terminal, a project thought to be worth upwards of $2.5 billion.
Project watchers suggested that four or five international EPC contractors are understood to be working on the project’s processing facilities package, with technical and commercial offers likely to submitted in November.
The envisaged Jafurah gas terminal will process up to 1.1 billion cubic feet per day of unconventional (shale) raw gas from nearby areas, producing sales gas, ethane and natural gas liquids plus condensate.
The project involves three key contacting packages — gas processing, utilities and compression facilities — which are being tendered separately.
While the tender process for the gas processing facilities and utilities has been initiated by Aramco, the compression facilities package is yet to be offered by the state-owned giant. The three packages together are thought to be worth more than $2.5 billion, with the onshore processing package alone likely to be valued at between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, industry sources said.
Those understood to be among the “serious contenders” preparing bids for the onshore gas processing package are South Korean players Hyundai E&C and Samsung E&C, Indian engineering giant Larsen & Toubro, Italy’s Saipem and UK-based TechnipFMC.
In addition, South Korea’s GS E&C and Japan’s JGC were also thought to be among interested players during the initial stage but are unlikely to participate, sources said.
The workscope for the gas processing package includes two trains, each handling about 550 million cubic feet per day of raw gas.
The process units would include gas separation, booster compressors, acid gas removers, natural gas liquids equipment and other associated surface facilities required for the gas plant.
The utilities package includes inlet and export facilities, interconnecting pipe racks, sulphur recovery units, flare systems and several other related surface facilities.
While the likely bidders for the utilities package could not be confirmed by Upstream, one source pointed out that those chasing the onshore processing facilities package are also expected to pitch for the utilities job.
The compression package, which is yet to be tendered by Aramco, is likely to include three new gas compression plants aimed at producing up to 600 MMcfd of gas plus 150,000 barrels per day of condensate and NGL.
The Jafurah gas plant is expected to be a key element of Aramco’s long-term strategy to boost its unconventional gas production to 3 Bcfd during the next decade.
Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser earlier this year said that the company plans to start building the Jafurah gas plant in 2020.
Nasser added that the Jafurah facility is likely to be a “huge plant that will produce sales gas, ethane, condensate and natural gas liquids”.
The Jafurah basin in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia holds significant unconventional hydrocarbon resources.
Aramco is understood to have completed a number of wells and has reduced drilling costs in the region through enhanced execution.
Jafurah is located between Ghawar, the world’s largest onshore oilfield, and the coast.
Aramco is hoping to expedite production with the help of nearby pipeline infrastructure.
