After playing the sidekick to oil for decades, gas is finally a main character in the global energy story. Just ask Saudi Aramco. The Saudi giant’s name has been synonymous with reliable, abundant and low-cost oil, but now gas is not just part of its strategy, it is one imposing face of a multi-faceted identity.
Aramco’s evolution reflects a broader truth about the energy system: the world is not moving away from hydrocarbons, but it is moving towards different hydrocarbons. Gas—lower‑carbon, flexible, and industrially indispensable—is the fuel that will undoubtedly endure policy U-turns, sustainability drives and cost challenges.
Aramco has read the global energy room: gas is central to the company’s next era of growth, resilience, and geopolitical relevance. It is structural, capital‑intensive and deliberate.
The company plans to increase sales gas production capacity by roughly 80% by 2030 compared with 2021 production levels as it rebalances the entire portfolio, reaching approximately 6m boe/d of total gas and associated liquids production. And it is happening at a pace and scale that only Aramco can execute.
Jafurah is the Middle East’s largest unconventional gas field and the clearest expression of Aramco’s new identity. It contains 229tcf of raw gas, a resource base that rivals the world’s most prolific shale plays. It is expected to deliver 2bcf/d of sales gas, 420mcf/d of ethane and 630,000b/d of high‑value liquids by 2030. It has become a proving ground for advanced drilling and stimulation technologies that dramatically lower costs and raise productivity.
Jafurah consolidates Saudi Arabia’s position as a top ten gas producer and catapults Aramco into the global unconventional gas elite.
If Jafurah is the resource, Tanajib is the engine. One of the world’s largest gas plants, Tanajib embodies the scale and sophistication required to process the volumes Aramco is bringing online.
Its integration with the Marjan and Zuluf offshore increments gives Aramco a dual advantage: more associated gas and more value extracted from every barrel of crude. With 2.6 bcf/d of processing capacity expected by 2026, Tanajib is the infrastructure that makes the gas pivot real.
A quiet revolution
Jafurah and Tanajib are only part of the story. Across the Kingdom, the company is executing a broader expansion that touches every part of the gas value chain. The Master Gas System III expansion is reshaping the national grid, enabling gas to power new industries, AI infrastructure, and petrochemical growth. Meanwhile swathes of new unconventional drilling rigs and directional drilling contracts signal a long‑term commitment to shale‑style development. On top of that, associated gas from offshore megaprojects is being captured and monetised at unprecedented scale. And then there is ethane and NGL production that is being positioned as a feedstock engine for downstream diversification.
This is an overhaul of the company’s future cash flows, with gas expected to generate $12–15b in incremental operating cash flow by 2030.
This will allow Aramco to diversify its earnings away from oil price cycles and towards more stable, industrial‑linked demand. It strengthens Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation, providing cleaner, cheaper fuel for domestic industries and freeing crude for export. And it positions Aramco as a central player in the global gas market at a time when energy security and supply reliability are geopolitical currencies.
Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said: “Jafurah and Tanajib significantly strengthen Aramco’s gas portfolio and expand our capacity at scale. These projects are a major step forward for our company and for the Kingdom’s energy future. Gas is central to our long-term growth strategy. It is expected to generate substantial earnings, meet rising domestic demand, support development across key sectors and deliver significant volumes of high-value liquids.”
The company, which is also looking into critical minerals and doubling down on its oil strategy, is now tooled up with a Swiss-army knife of energy offerings. Aramco is leading the way amid the chaos and complexity of the new energy world and gas is now increasingly becoming the solution to solve the trilemma. Gas was the answer all along, we just were not paying close enough attention. Aramco, however, was.
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