Saudi Aramco has received commercial bids from contractors for multiple engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages of the third expansion project of the Master Gas System network (MGS-III) in Saudi Arabia.

Aramco has divided the EPC work on the MGS-III project into 17 packages, MEED previously reported.

Two of the main EPC packages cover upgrading existing gas compression systems and installing new gas compressors.

The 15 other packages relate to laying gas transport pipelines across various locations in the kingdom.

Contractors submitted commercial bids for 15 pipeline packages of the MGS-III project “during the last two weeks of September,” sources told MEED.

Aramco received technical bids for the 15 pipeline packages of the MGS-III project during the third and fourth weeks of August, MEED previously reported.

Technical bids, along with their related In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) credentials, for the two gas compression packages are due on 30 October, according to sources. Contractors were previously set a deadline of 30 September for submission of technical + IKTVA bids for the two main gas compression packages.

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The original Master Gas System was built during the 1970s and commissioned in 1982. Since then, Aramco has been supplying natural gas to its customers across Saudi Arabia through the network, mainly channelling associated gas from Ghawar and other oil fields.

Over the past decade, amid rising gas demand from the Saudi economy's industrial and household sectors, Aramco has undertaken projects to increase its non-associated gas production. It launched the second expansion phase of the Master Gas System in 2015.

Local contractor Arkad Engineering & Construction won the three main pipeline packages of MGS-II, worth an estimated $1.3bn, in early 2016.

EPC works were completed in 2021, increasing the gas handling and transport capacity of the Master Gas System from 8.4 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) to 12.5 billion cf/d.

MGS-III EPC tendering phase

Aramco completed the solicitation of interest (SoI) process with contractors for the two gas compression packages of the MGS-III project in December. SoIs for the pipeline packages were issued by Aramco in March, with contractors expressing interest within days.

The Saudi energy giant then issued the main EPC tender for all 17 packages in April, sources told MEED. The following contractors, among others, are understood to have been invited to bid for MGS-III:

• A Hak (The Netherlands)
• Almeer Saudi Technical Services Company (Saudi Arabia)
• Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting Company (Saudi Arabia)
• Bin Quaraya Construction (Saudi Arabia)
• CAT Group (Lebanon)
• China Petroleum Pipeline (China)
• Consolidated Contractors Company (Greece/Lebanon)
• Denys Arabia (Saudi Arabia)
• Diversified Lines Petroleum Services (Saudi Arabia)
• Gas Arabian Services (Saudi Arabia)
• Gulf Consolidated Contractors Company (Saudi Arabia)
• Kalpataru Power Transmission (India)
• Kent (UAE)
• Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
• Mace (Saudi Arabia)
• M al-Barghash Company (Saudi Arabia)
• Mapa Group (Turkey)
• Max Streicher & Company (Germany)
• National Basics Company (Saudi Arabia)
• Nesma & Partners (Saudi Arabia)
• Petroleum Vision Contracting Company (Saudi Arabia)
• Saipem (Italy)
• Sepco Electric Power Construction Corporation (China)
• Sicim (Italy)
• Sinopec Engineering (China)
• Specialised Industrial Services Company (Saudi Arabia)
• Tecton Engineering & Construction (UAE)
• Tekfen Construction (Turkey)
• Yuksel Saudia (Saudi Arabia)

Aramco has been conducting site visits and job-explanation meetings for contractors for the various MGS-III packages since late April, as per the sources.

The basic EPC scopes of work on the MGS-III packages, and their commercial bid deadlines, are as follows:

Package 1 – 30 September (Technical + IKTVA):

Upgrade of existing booster gas compression stations (BGCS) 1, 3 and 5 along the east-west pipelines corridor of the Master Gas System by installing a total of eight compression trains in these stations. Three compression trains are to be installed in BGCS-1, two trains in BGCS-3 and three trains in BGCS-5. This package also includes expanding permanent accommodation facilities in east-west pump stations (EWPS) 1 and 5.

Package 2 – 30 September (Technical + IKTVA):

Building a new booster gas compression station – BGCS-10 – near EWPS-10 at the western side of the east-west pipelines corridor. Ten new compression trains are to be installed in BGCS-10. Additional scope of work includes the expansion of permanent accommodation facilities in EWPS-10.

Package 3 – 17 September:

Laying 56-inch east-west gas pipelines 3 and 4 from EWPS-1 to Shedgum, covering 56 kilometres

Package 4 – 17 September:

Laying 56-inch east-west gas pipelines 3 and 4 from EWPS-1 to EWPS-3, covering 300km

Package 5 – 17 September:

Laying 56-inch east-west gas pipelines 3 and 4 from EWPS-3 to EWPS-4, covering 166km

Package 6 – 17 September:

Laying 56-inch east-west gas pipelines 3 and 4 from EWPS-4 to EWPS-6, covering 370km

Package 7 – 17 September:

Laying 56-inch east-west gas pipelines 3 and 4 from EWPS-6 to EWPS-8, covering 340km

Package 8 – 17 September:

Laying 56-inch east-west gas pipelines 3 and 4 from EWPS-8 to EWPS-10, covering 480km

Package 9 – 20 September:

Laying 56-inch EWJZG-1 from BGCS-10 to sector I STS 2, covering 458km

Package 10 – 20 September:

Laying 56-inch EWJZG-1 from sector I STS 2 to sector II STS 1, covering 310km

Package 11 – 20 September:

Laying 56-inch EWJZG-1 from sector II STS 1 to Shoqaiq, covering 462km

Package 12 – 19 September:

Laying 16-inch, 12-inch and 4-inch lateral pipelines in the Eastern Province and Qassim region clusters, covering 116km

Package 13 – 19 September:

Laying 16-inch, 12-inch, 10-inch and 4-inch lateral pipelines in the Riyadh cluster, covering 470km

Package 14 – 19 September:

Laying 56-inch, 16-inch and 10-inch lateral pipelines in the Shoaiba cluster, covering 212km

Package 15 – 18 September:

Laying 20-inch, 16-inch, 12-inch and 4-inch lateral pipelines from Yanbu to Rabigh, covering 192km

Package 16 – 19 September:

Laying a 52km pipeline to serve customers in the Jeddah area

Package 17 – 19 September:

Laying 30-inch and 16-inch lateral pipelines in the Jizan cluster, covering 169km

With the EPC works on the main gas compressor packages 1 and 2 entailing the installation of 18 compression trains, Aramco is expected to split the scope of work on those two packages into two further sub-packages, a source previously told MEED.