Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy and the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones, MODON, have agreed to develop a compressed natural gas compression and distribution station in Dammam, adding a new industrial-energy infrastructure project to the kingdom’s pipeline.
The parties signed a memorandum of understanding covering establishment and operation of the facility in Dammam’s Third Industrial City. The project is intended to support industrial users requiring access to natural gas where conventional pipeline connections may not be immediately available.
The proposed facility will compress natural gas for onward distribution, providing another mechanism for expanding gas availability to industrial establishments and supporting the kingdom’s programme to increase the role of natural gas in the domestic energy mix.
The development is at an early project-announcement stage. Neither the planned investment value nor the facility’s capacity, procurement timetable or construction schedule has yet been disclosed.
For contractors and suppliers, the commercially important next milestones will be completion of technical studies, definition of capacity and distribution arrangements, followed by engineering and construction procurement.
The project could ultimately create opportunities for gas-compression technology providers, EPC contractors, pressure-vessel and storage suppliers, pipeline specialists, transport and distribution companies, instrumentation providers and industrial-energy consultants.
Sources: Ministry of Energy, MODON, Saudi Gulf Projects.