India’s Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has won an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for gas compression facilities as part of the Phase 4 expansion of Saudi Aramco’s Jafurah shale gas field, it is reported. The contract was announced in August 2026 and will be executed by L&T’s Hydrocarbon business.
The scope covers two new gas compression trains and associated facilities to be built in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, each train capable of processing up to 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. The scope reportedly also includes gas inlet facilities, condensate handling, propane refrigeration units, and two 230kV ultra-high-voltage substations. L&T previously won a roughly $3.9 billion package for Jafurah Phase 2, making this its second major EPC award on the Aramco Jafurah project.
The contract value is reported at approximately $1.5 billion to $1.57 billion. Aramco is reportedly targeting phased increases at Jafurah through 2030, aiming to raise sales gas production to 2 billion cubic feet per day, ethane production to 420 million cubic feet per day, and natural gas liquids production to 630,000 barrels per day. The specific process technology or compression equipment manufacturer has not been disclosed.
Jafurah is Saudi Arabia’s largest unconventional (shale) gas field, and Aramco is developing it as a core asset to boost domestic gas self-sufficiency and support feedstock supply for its petrochemical and power generation sectors.
The Jafurah project is a central pillar of Aramco’s Master Gas System expansion strategy as it diversifies from an oil-centric business into natural gas and petrochemicals, and its phased buildout continues to generate major contract opportunities for Asian EPC firms from India, Korea and elsewhere. L&T’s pattern of repeatedly winning large packages from the same client illustrates how building trust with Middle East national energy companies tends to lead to follow-on contracts. Gas compression and processing infrastructure for shale gas fields is often awarded as large packages covering multiple trains and substations, creating sustained demand for rotating equipment suppliers such as compressor and turbine manufacturers. Given Aramco’s stated phased production targets through 2030, further follow-on EPC packages related to Jafurah are likely, and industry attention is expected to remain high. Expanded NGL production could also affect domestic Saudi petrochemical feedstock supply, meaning Jafurah’s development is linked not only to upstream activity but also to downstream petrochemical investment.
The construction start date and target completion schedule for this EPC contract are the first points to confirm. Whether an expansion beyond Jafurah Phase 5 will be announced, and when follow-on packages will be awarded to meet the 2030 targets, are also worth watching. Once the major rotating equipment suppliers — compressors and turbines — for the compression facilities are confirmed, that will also be important information for understanding the project’s technical characteristics. In the longer term, how the increased Jafurah gas output will specifically be allocated to Saudi Arabia’s domestic petrochemical and power generation sectors also bears watching.