Saudi Aramco has invited companies to bid for the main packages of an estimated $4.5bn project to expand gas processing capacity at Haradh and Hawiyah.

The project will build new gas compression plants at Haradh and expand the gas plant at Hawiyah. The proposed facilities will have the capacity to process more than 1 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of additional gas produced at the Ghawar onshore oil field – the largest in the world.

Prequalified companies have been given a deadline of 3 July to submit bids for the four engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages covering the processing plants.

The processing plant packages include the following:

• Hawiyah Gas Plant Expansion (estimated budget: $1bn-$1.3bn)
• North Haradh Compression Plants (estimated budget: $1bn-$1.2bn)
• Satellite Haradh Compression Plants (estimated budget: $1bn-$1.2bn)
• South Haradh Compression Plants (estimated budget: $1bn-$1.2bn)

A fifth package to install pipelines as part of the project is expected to be tendered at a later date.

The front-end engineering and design (feed) study was carried out by Australia-based WorleyParsons.

Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said in 2016 that the kingdom’s gas network produces 12 billion cf/d and there are plans to increase this to 23 billion cf/d.

Aramco is currently executing the Fadhili gas plant project, which will have a capacity of about 2.5 billion cf/d and will process sour gas from the Khursaniyah oil field and the Hasbah non-associated gas field.