Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has broken ground on Saudi Aramco’s King Salman Energy Park (Spark) project in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

Aramco, the developer and the anchor tenant at the 50-square-kilometre energy services complex, will deliver the first phase of the development by 2021.

The investment in the first phase of the project is expected to be around $1.6bn, Aramco said in a statement.

‘Saudi Aramco is at the heart of SPARK’s development, helping bring businesses together to drive efficiencies and promote technological development, manufacturing and exports, as well as build a world-class energy supply chain’, it said.

Aramco was granted a license by the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon) in July to develop Spark, which was previously known as Abqaiq Energy City, between Dammam and Al-Hasa.

Several local and foreign oil and gas services firms have already committed to investing in and setting up manufacturing bases at Spark.

Aramco promoted the Spark project as a flagship initiative part of its In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) programme at an event on 26 and 27 November.

When operational, Spark is estimated to contribute more than $6bn to Saudi Arabia’s GDP annually and create up to 100,000 direct and indirect jobs.