Japan’s JGC won an onshore EPC contract for an oil project from Saudi Aramco to build ground facilities for Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq plant.

The facility includes three main processing units: an oil processing unit, a natural gas condensate module, and a utility module. Insiders said that the contract has been awarded and may be officially announced soon, and is expected to be worth more than US$500 million. The project is part of the first LTA Long-Term Agreement provided by Saudi Aramco. Aramco's Abqaiq plant is one of the largest oil processing plants in the world, processing up to 7 million barrels of oil per day. The Abqaiq dew point control project involves the work of natural gas liquefaction facilities, including the installation of new de-ethanizer (DER) and propane refrigeration systems, upgrading of dehydration systems and installation of new condensing strippers.

In addition, the replacement of the gas outlet compression production line is also considered part of the scope of the project. Project sources said that JGC allegedly defeated other major competitors, including Technip Energies in France, Saipem in Italy, and GS E&C and Hyundai E&C in South Korea. All five companies are qualified contractors in LTA's Zone 2 area, which involves facilities south of Dhahran.

In November 2020, under the LTA framework of Saudi Aramco, eight major EPC companies won contracts for onshore brownfield oil and gas projects in Saudi Arabia. The eight land-based LTA companies include JGC, TechnipEnergies, Saipem, ENPPI of Egypt, Daelim of South Korea, GS E&C and Hyundai E&C, and a consortium of Nasser Saeed Al-Hajri and Samsung of South Korea. The base period of these agreements is 6 years, which can be extended for another 6 years. Keywords: overseas engineering, international engineering construction, foreign engineering construction news

The five companies bidding for the Abqaiq dew point control project belong to the Zone-2 area of LTA and involve facilities south of Dhahran. The other three companies-ENPPI, Daelim and the consortium of Nasser Saeed Al-Hajri and South Korea's Samsung, belong to the Zone-1 area in the north of Dhahran. Saudi Aramco said in 2020 that the scope of onshore LTA includes the design, procurement, construction, pre-commissioning and installation of upgrade facilities in designated operating areas for each project.Editor/XuNing