Milan-based engineering and construction contractor Saipem said on June 10 that it has secured a contract worth more than $1 billion for its participation in a project to build a new gas compression plant for Saudi Aramco’s non-associated Uthmaniyah gas field in eastern Saudi Arabia.
Saipem said the award is the first engineering, procurement and construction project issued under Saudi Aramco’s “national EPC champion program,” an initiative designed to develop local contractors by connecting them with international companies to execute large-scale onshore energy projects while increasing domestic content and workforce participation.
The contract was signed by Saipem Nasser Saeed Al-Hajri Contracting Co., a jointly controlled company formed by Saipem and Saudi contractor Nasser Saeed Al-Hajri and Partners Co. for Contracting (NSH). The project is expected to take about 42 months to complete.
According to Saipem, the team will execute the EPC work for the new compression facility which aims to extend the productive life of the field while helping to meet the growing demand for energy in Saudi Arabia.
Technical information published by Saipem indicates that the facility will compress non-associated gas flowing into the existing Uthmaniyah gas plant.
The scope calls for gas compression facilities that separate gas and liquids, increase gas pressure from about 150 psig to 1,000 psig, relative to atmospheric pressure. and deliver about 882 million cubic feet of gas per day to existing processing infrastructure. The project also includes modifications to the existing gas plant
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The award comes as Aramco expands Saudi gas production and processing capacity. The company has said it aims to increase sales gas production capacity by up to 80% by 2030 compared to 2021 levels as it expands domestic gas supplies for power generation, industry and petrochemical production.
Industry reports indicate that the Uthmaniyah project is part of a wider program to increase gas processing and compression capacity at the Uthmaniyah and Shedgum facilities. They currently receive about 1.2 billion cubic feet per day and 870 million cubic feet per day of gas, respectively.
The expansion effort includes new pipeline infrastructure designed to improve gas transportation, according to MEED, a Middle East-based project intelligence publication.
The existing Uthmaniyah gas plant, commissioned in 1981 as part of Aramco’s main gas system, is one of the key processing centers in its natural gas network. Located about 177 km southwest of Dhahran, it processes gas from fields throughout the region and plays a central role in supplying gas to domestic markets.
The contract award comes as an integration of Subsea 7 and Saipem, announced last year it will close in the second half of 2026a deal valued at about $4.6 billion, company executives said in recent financial results updates.
The combined company would reportedly have about 45,000 global employees and a portfolio of $45.2 billion.
