Saudi Aramco has selected contractors to execute engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works through 17 packages on the third expansion phase of its Master Gas System network (MGS-3), being developed in the kingdom at an investment of US $10bn.
While the first two packages involve upgradation of existing gas compression systems and installation of new gas compressors, the remaining 15 packages are related to laying gas transport pipelines across various locations in the Kingdom.
The letters of intent (LoIs) have been issued to the following contractors for 16 EPC packages of the MGS-3 project:
- Package 1 – China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Company (China)
- Package 2 – Sepco (China)
- Packages 3 + 12 – Gas Arabian (Saudi Arabia)
- Packages 4 + 9 – Mapa (Turkey)
- Packages 6 + 7 – Sinopec Petroleum Services (China)
- Packages 8 – Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
- Packages 10 + 14 – Nesma & Partners (Saudi Arabia)/Sicim (Italy)
- Packages 13 + 15 + 17 – Kalpataru Power Transmission (India)
- Package 5 – Bin Quraya (Saudi Arabia)
- Package 11 – Max Streicher (Germany)
The original Master Gas System (MGS) was built in the 1970s and commissioned in 1982. Since then, Aramco has been supplying natural gas to its customers across Saudi Arabia via the network, mainly channelling associated gas from Ghawar and other oil fields.
Over the past decade, amid rising gas demand from Saudi Arabia’s industrial and household sectors, Aramco has undertaken projects to increase its non-associated gas production. For example, it launched the second expansion phase of the MGS (MGS-2) in 2015.
Aramco completed the solicitation of interest (SoL) process with contractors for the two gas compression packages of the MGS-3 project in December, while SoLs for the pipeline packages were issued in March last year. It is notable that for all of these tenders, contractors expressed interest within a matter of only a few days.