Saudi Aramco has finalised an $11 billion lease and leaseback agreement, transferring development and usage rights for its Jafurah gas processing facilities to a new subsidiary before leasing them back under a 20‑year arrangement.
The subsidiary, Jafurah Midstream Gas Company (JMGC), will oversee the Jafurah Field Gas Plant and the Riyas NGL Fractionation Facility, collecting a tariff from Aramco in exchange for exclusive processing rights. Aramco retains a 51% stake in JMGC; the remaining 49% is held by a consortium led by funds managed by Global Infrastructure Partners, part of BlackRock.
The deal supports Aramco’s financial strategy to unlock capital from its midstream infrastructure without ceding control, enabling it to accelerate investment in its gas expansion programme. The Jafurah project, valued at roughly $100 billion, is the kingdom’s largest non‑associated gas development, with estimated reserves of 229 trillion standard cubic feet of raw gas and 75 billion stock‑tank barrels of condensate.
This structure mirrors past Aramco transactions: in 2021, BlackRock and EIG acquired minority stakes in Aramco’s oil and gas pipeline subsidiaries under leaseback terms, raising almost $28 billion while leaving operational control intact.
Jafurah’s development remains on schedule, with phase one set to start this year. Aramco anticipates that by 2030 the field will deliver two billion standard cubic feet per day of sales gas, plus significant volumes of ethane, NGL and condensate, helping to expand domestic gas capacity by 60% compared to 2021.
This transaction illustrates growing international investor interest in Saudi energy assets amid the kingdom’s push to diversify its economy. Foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia rose 24% in Q1 2025, reaching $6.4 billion, despite an overall decline last year.
