Berri Gas Plant

The Berri Gas Plant is a facility within Saudi Aramco's main gas network, located in al-Jubayl Industrial City in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The plant processes associated gas with crude oil, aiming to utilize it efficiently and preserve the Kingdom's resources. The plant is considered the cornerstone of the industrial era that the Kingdom experienced in the 1970s. In 2016, the Berri Gas Plant received the International Energy Award in recognition of its outstanding environmental practices.

The Berri Gas Plant began when Saudi Aramco established the Master Gas System in 1975, designed to be the primary source of Saudi natural gas. This system collects, processes, and transports gas. In 1977, the plant started operations as an integral part of the Master Gas System.

King Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud inaugurated the plant on October 29, 1977. Since its full operation, the plant has extracted approximately eight hundred thousand bbl per day of natural gas liquids. It has also been able to supply processed gas as fuel and chemical feedstock to al-Jubayl industrial complex, in addition to securing natural gas liquids for export. After the successful startup of the Berri Gas Plant, other components of the Master Gas System were completed, including the Shedgum Gas Plant. In 1980, the main components of the Master Gas System began operating, with 75 percent of the project completed.

In the years following its startup, the demand for gas increased, leading to several expansion phases at the Berri Gas Plant. Saudi Aramco built an ethane gas storage facility at the plant to address gas supply shortages, which helped double the plant’s production capacity from 620 million standard ft per day to 1.44 billion by 2005.

In April 2022, as part of its efforts to localize the manufacturing of large electric motors, Saudi Aramco commissioned an electric induction motor at the Berri Gas Plant, which was fully manufactured in the Kingdom. The motor, with a power of ten thousand hp, is designed to operate the gas compressor at the Berri Gas Plant, responsible for supplying the Kingdom's Master Gas System with natural gas. The motor was entirely manufactured locally by TECO Middle East Electrical and Equipment Company (TME) in the Second Industrial City in Dammam.

In 2004, al-Qatif Project was launched, aimed at significantly increasing crude oil production by eight hundred thousand bbl per day. The project also included an expansion of the Berri Gas Plant to accommodate the additional associated gas produced with the crude oil.