Aramco keeps spending on gas. On June 12 the Saudi producer awarded the main engineering, procurement and construction contract for its Uthmaniyah gas compression plant to a joint venture of Italy’s Saipem and local contractor Nasser Al-Hajri, with Saipem’s slice valued north of $1 billion.
Compression projects don’t get much press, but they’re the quiet backbone of a maturing field. As a reservoir gives up its gas, pressure falls and flow slows. Compression plants push that gas back up to pipeline pressure so it keeps moving. Uthmaniyah is part of the giant Ghawar complex, and keeping its output steady matters to Aramco’s broader plan to lift gas production through the rest of the decade.
What the Uthmaniyah award covers
According to MEED, the Saipem and Nasser Al-Hajri JV takes the lead EPC role, with the Italian firm’s reported share above $1 billion. The structure is typical for Saudi work: an international contractor brings the process engineering and project controls, a domestic partner brings local labor, fabrication, and the in-Kingdom content the rules now require. Aramco has leaned on that model across its recent gas and oil packages.
For Saipem, the win extends a strong stretch in the Gulf and feeds a backlog that’s increasingly weighted toward gas rather than crude.
Why the Gulf EPC market is running hot
The timing isn’t a coincidence. The same week brought a string of large awards across the region, and contractors that survived the last downturn are now picking from a fuller menu. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been trading the lead on project awards, and energy infrastructure is the bulk of it.
Exchange tracks the build side of that boom through projects like the Riyadh Metro, where the same wave of capital is reshaping the Kingdom’s cities as well as its gas fields. The risk for the EPC players is the familiar one: too much work chasing too few skilled crews, which is how schedules slip and margins thin. For now, the order books are filling. Aramco just added another line.