British oilfield services company Petrofac and Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas are likely to win contracts to build projects for Saudi Aramco's Uthmaniyah and Ras Tanura plants, industry sources said.
Tecnicas Reunidas is the lowest bidder to build units for a cleaner fuels project at the Ras Tanura refinery; this project was originally estimated to cost more than $2 billion. It will remove sulfur from refined oil products, the source said.
The project is part of a drive by Saudi Arabia to meet stricter environmental standards in export markets.
Petrofac is the front-runner to build a gas treatment facility at the Uthmaniyah gas plant, a project that is expected to cost about $600 million, the sources said.
The aim of the Uthmaniyah project is to recover ethane, propane and other NGL from 1.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of sales gas.
Uthmaniyah is one of the operating areas of Ghawar, the world's largest onshore oil field. The gas plant has a processing capacity of 2.5 Bcf/d.
Petrofac declined to comment, while Tecnicas Reunidas and Saudi Aramco did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is struggling to keep up with domestic demand for gas, used in a number of sectors such as petrochemicals that are key to diversifying the kingdom's economy.
Saudi Arabia is building a number of gas plants to meet rising domestic gas demand. Saudi Arabia said its Fadhili, Midyan and Wasit gas plants will add more than 5 Bcf/d of non-associated gas processing capacity.