Saudi Aramco has awarded China’s Sepco the contract for two booster gas compressor stations, as part of the first phase of its Master Gas System Expansion (MGSE) in a deal worth $1.3bn.

MEED reported in September that Sepco was the favourite for the scheme after an extremely close tendering contest with Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract is close to the $1.3bn mark, with about $300m of that figure going to the US’ GE for its Nuovo Pignone compressors.

The scope of work includes the EPC of the two booster compressor stations, as well as all associated works including offsite and utilities. The location is between Dammam in the Eastern Province and Riyadh.

In October 2013, MEED reported that the US’ Foster Wheeler had been awarded the front-end engineering and design (feed) contract for the scheme.

The MGSE is being implemented to meet increased gas demand from the kingdom’s Central Region and Western Province. When the scheme has been completed, it will be able to provide 9.6 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas using the booster gas compressor stations and pumping stations.

A further three booster compressor stations are due to be added in a second phase.

The Master Gas System is operated by Aramco and is one of the world’s largest hydrocarbons networks. Construction started on the scheme in the mid-1970s as a means to transfer gas across the kingdom to support industrialisation. The system became fully operational in 1982 and allows Aramco to market all of its gas domestically.

Aramco is investing billions of dollars in increasing its gas production for domestic use. This includes associated and non-associated output, as well as non-conventional forms of the resource such as tight gas.