China’s Shandong Electric Power Construction Corp (SEPCO) has signed a contract to build a gas compressor station, according to Reuters.
The gas facility is part of the expansion of Saudi Arabia’s main gas pipeline, industry sources told Reuters.
The world’s top oil exporter is pressing ahead with gas-related projects to meet rising domestic demand and conserve oil for export and refining.
Overseen by state oil company Saudi Aramco, the project, known as ‘Master Gas System 2 (MGS 2)’, will raise the system’s capacity to 12.5bn cubic feet (bcf) of gas a day by 2018 from 8.4bcf a day currently.
There was no clear value for the contract but sources have estimated it at around $700mn to $800mn.
SEPCO is already executing the first phase of the expansion of the MGS, installing booster gas compressor stations due to be complete by the end of 2016 that will help raise capacity to 9.6bcf a day.
The MGS was built in the mid-1970s to gather and process associated gas from oil wells for use by domestic industries.
