Saudi energy giant Aramco has awarded contracts for five key engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages of the estimated $10 billion second expansion phase of its Jafurah unconventional gas production project, MEED reported.

India’s Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbons scooped the award for Package 1 and 3 worth $3.9 billion for the gas processing plant, main process units, and gas compression units.

South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering secured a $2.4 billion contract for Package 2 that includes utilities and offsites.

Spanish contractor Tecnicas Reunidas landed contracts for Riyas natural gas liquids (NGL) package 1 that includes NGL fractionation trains and Riyas NGL package 2 including utilities, storage and export facilities. The total value of both contracts stands at about $3.2 billion.

All three companies that secured awards were ranked as top contractors on Oil & Gas Middle East’s recently-released Top 25 EPC Contractors List.

Jafurah is the largest liquid-rich — containing condensates and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) — shale gas play in the Middle East. Beneath its basin lies an estimated 200 trillion scf of natural gas — which can help reduce emissions and provide feedstock for lower-carbon future fuels.

In November 2021, Aramco awarded contracts worth $10 billion, kicking off the development of the Jafurah unconventional gas field, said to be the largest non-associated gas resource base in Saudi Arabia.

As part of the next development phase, Aramco plans to build a facility with the potential to process up to 2 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of raw gas produced from the Jafurah field.

The Jafurah second expansion phase will also include EPC of large gas compression facilities, and key units for NGL fractionation.