China’s SEPCO is frontrunner for Saudi Aramco’s gas booster project: report

China's Shandong Electric Power Construction Corp (SEPCO) is a prime candidate to win Saudi Arabian Oil Co.’s (Aramco) contract to help expand the capacity of the main gas pipeline across Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported.

The deal would be the second for SEPCO, which last year won the first phase of the master gas system (MGS) that aims to boost the capacity of MGS to 9.6 billion cubic feet of gas a day (cfd) from 8.4 billion cfd when completed by the end of 2016.

The new deal would include the construction of 12.5 billion cfd gas compressor station by the end of 2018.

There was no clear value for the contract but industry sources put it between $700 million and $800 million, according to Reuters.

SEPCO was officially the lowest bidder, Reuters said. Other bidders include JGC Gulf, a subsidiary of Japan's JGC Corp.

The MGS was built in the mid-1970s to gather and process associated gas from oil wells for the use of domestic industries.