RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company Aramco has awarded $18 billion in contracts to expand oil and gas capacity at two of its fields.
Aramco said in a statement on Tuesday it had awarded 34 contracts for engineering, procurement and construction at the Majran and Berri offshore fields to expand crude oil production by 550,000 barrels per day and gas by 2.5 billion standard cubic feet per day.
Aramco says 16 local and international companies were chosen out of 90 invited to bid on the packages. Saudi companies were granted half of the awarded contracts.
Contractors working on the projects will be required to maximize their purchases of material and equipment from Saudi suppliers and manufacturers. Aramco says the projects are also expected to create thousands of local jobs.
