Saudi Aramco completes $11 billion gas processing deal
Saudi Aramco has announced the completion of an $11 billion (£8 billion) investment agreement with a consortium of investors for its Jafurah gas processing facilities, according to an Aramco press release dated October 28th.
The deal, initially announced in August, was finalised with a consortium of global investors such as Hassana Investment Company, The Arab Energy Fund (TAEF), and Aberdeen Investcorp Infrastructure Partners, and led by Global Infrastructure partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock.
Jafurah, the biggest non-associated gas development in Saudi Arabia, is estimated to have 229 trillion standard cubic feet of raw gas.
As part of the deal, Jafurah Midstream Gas Company (JMGC), a newly formed Aramco subsidiary, will get a tariff from Aramco while giving the oil producer the right to process and treat raw gas from Jafurah. Production is expected to start by the end of 2025.
The project is part of Aramco’s gas expansion which seeks to meet the Kingdom’s increasing natural gas demand while investing in international (liquefied natural gas) LNG markets.
“Jafurah kickstarts our plan to expand our overall sales gas production capacity, which will contribute to Saudi Arabia’s growth ambitions across multiple sectors including energy, artificial intelligence, and major industries such as petrochemicals,” said Aramco president and chief executive Amin H. Nasser.
Aramco also agreed to buy a minority stake in HUMAIN, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) artificial intelligence company. The move was made to consolidate Saudi Arabia’s AI assets under one entity.
Meanwhile, the state-owned oil company halted expansion plans for three chemical projects due to weak oil prices, as reported on October 11th.
The Saudi-listed oil producer is holding back two joint venture projects at Yanbu on Saudi Arabia’s western Red Sea coast and another facility at Jubail on the Persian Gulf coast.
Aramco has reportedly prioritised investment in international refining and chemical facilities in a bid to meet its goal to turn 4 million barrels a day of crude into petrochemicals.
On October 14th, the company completed the acquisition of a 22.5% stake in its refining and petrochemicals joint venture Petro Rabigh.
Saudi Aramco, Maghrebi.org
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