Saudi Aramco signed a $10 billion contract for its Jafurah gas field, marking the start of the development of its huge unconventional gas field. The world's largest oil export company has awarded 16 underground and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts. These transactions were awarded to domestic and international service companies and involved several projects planned by Jafurah. Unconventional resources refer to those resources that require advanced extraction methods.

Saudi Arabia continues to strengthen the development of gaseous energy

The capital expenditure of Jafurah, the largest non-associated gas field in Saudi Arabia, is expected to reach US$68 billion in the first 10 years of development. Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, said that the development of Jafula will make a positive contribution to the kingdom’s energy structure, thanks to the cooperation between more than 17 institutions. Close cooperation. The government is committed to empowering Aramco and other national companies. No other energy company in the world has the same degree of authorization from the country or the Ministry of Energy, which is responsible for overseeing the concessions for the development of Saudi oil and gas resources.

The Jafurah Basin has approximately 200 trillion standard cubic feet of natural gas and the largest liquid-rich shale gas in the Middle East. This covers an area of 17,000 square kilometers. By 2030, Jafurah’s natural gas production is expected to increase from 200 million standard cubic feet per day in 2025 to 2 billion standard cubic feet per day (scfd), of which ethane production is 418 million standard cubic feet per day, and liquefied gas The production capacity is about 630,000 barrels per day and condensate oil, which are raw materials for the petrochemical industry. This will make the Saudi Arabian economy one of the largest natural gas producers in the world.

The project is an important part of Saudi Aramco's long-term strategy. The company expects that Jafurah's total life cycle investment will exceed 100 billion U.S. dollars. Saudi Aramco expects to create more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs through its unconventional gas projects in Jafurah, North Arabia and South Ghawar oil fields. Saudi Aramco CEO and President Amin Nasser said that this is a critical moment for the commercialization of Saudi Arabia's huge unconventional resource plan. This is a breakthrough that few people outside of the kingdom think is possible. It has positive significance for energy security, economic development and climate protection.

Saudi Arabia's road to energy transition

"Natural gas plays a key role in the energy transition. It will help to significantly reduce emissions from the domestic energy sector while providing raw materials for low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia," Mr. Nasser said. During the peak production period, Saudi Aramco’s unconventional natural gas plan is expected to replace about 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day, otherwise the crude oil will be used for domestic consumption. The Jafurah natural gas development project alone is expected to replace more than 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day during peak production periods. "The development of Jafurah has changed the rules of the game for our unconventional resource plan. It will become one of the most modern and cost-effective shale development plans in the industry, and will comply with the highest environmental and safety standards," said Saudi Aramco Senior Vice President Upstream Nasir K Al Naimi said. Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news

Like other major oil producers, Saudi Aramco has also benefited from rising crude oil prices. In October, the oil export company stated that its profit in the third quarter more than doubled due to rising crude oil prices and higher refining profit margins. The company stated in a regulatory filing to the Tadawul Stock Exchange where its stocks are traded that net profit for the three-month period ending September has increased from US$11.8 billion in the same period last year to US$30.4 billion. After Saudi Arabia stated that its goal was to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, it announced a plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.Editor/XingWentao