RIYADH, 18 April — Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi yesterday announced the completion of a multibillion riyal pipeline project to pump gas from the Eastern Province to Riyadh. The project will benefit more than 25 national industries in the city, he added.
The minister said the project, aimed at supplying gas to all Riyadh factories, will eventually replace oil as the main industrial fuel. The Gas Distribution Company (GDC) has been given the right to deliver gas within the limits of the Second Industrial City in Riyadh, he added.
“Efforts to supply gas to meet demand in all regions of the Kingdom started with the establishment of the main gas network in early 1980s and setting up of new gas processing workshops,” Naimi told the Saudi Press Agency.
Since 2000, Saudi Aramco has been supplying gas to Yanbu Industrial City. “A project is now under way to supply 300 million cubic meters of gas daily to Yanbu. It will be completed by the end of next year,” he said.
The minister disclosed the plan to increase the capacity of the East-West Pipeline. Jubail Industrial City consumes more than 1,000 million cubic meters of methane a day, he said and expected that the figure would touch 2,000 million cubic meters gradually.
At present, the industrial cities in Jubail and Yanbu together consume 350 million cubic meters of ethane daily. By next year that figure will grow up to 550 million cubic meters daily, Naimi said.
Suleiman Muhammad Al-Kholaify, chairman of the GDC, said the gas pipeline project will cut the cost of fuel by 80 to 90 percent compared to the value of gas presently used by industries and power plants throughout the city. “It will also reduce both maintenance costs and environmental pollution,” he added.
The project will encourage new factories in the city as it will cut the cost of production.
The new project comes after Saudi Arabia signed accords with eight international oil companies on June 3 to develop its gas fields. The deals, to carry out three core ventures in the southeastern, western and northwestern parts of the country, will pump a minimum of SR75 billion ($20 billion) in direct investments into the economy.
The development of gas also provides good opportunities for local contractors. The Saudi firms, in cooperation with international engineering companies, will take part in the construction of new industries either as main contractors or subcontractors for civil, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, safety, communication, maintenance and other works.
