Under the surface of the Arabian Gulf, a giant offshore oil and gas field that has been in operation for decades is undergoing a new round of technological upgrades. Saudi Aramco awarded KBR an engineering service contract in early October 2026 to establish a long-term technical foundation for the smooth operation of the Marjan offshore oil and gas field expansion.

Optimization and implementation of facilities after expansion

The 300000 barrels per day crude oil expansion project of Marjan Oilfield will be officially put into operation by the end of 2025, with a total production capacity of 800000 barrels per day. The Tanajib onshore natural gas processing plant, which will be put into operation simultaneously, will have a raw gas processing capacity of 2.6 billion standard cubic feet per day by 2026. It can receive associated gas from surrounding oilfields such as Marjan and Zuluf, and export and sell natural gas with a production capacity of about 650 million standard cubic feet per day. This upgrade contract closely follows the implementation of the expansion node, and KBR will simultaneously promote work from its two core offices in Houston and Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, covering offshore crude oil processing, water production optimization, gas lift reinjection compression system, and power infrastructure upgrades to ensure the continuous and stable release of new production capacity.

As a core component of Saudi Aramco's offshore production increase plan, the Marjan expansion project is being promoted in conjunction with the Berri oil field's 250000 barrels per day and Zuluf oil field's 600000 barrels per day expansion projects. Together, the three projects will add 1.15 million barrels per day of crude oil production capacity to Saudi Aramco between 2025 and 2026, further consolidating its capacity as the world's largest crude oil exporter. Previously, the Marjan offshore integrated energy cluster was certified by Guinness World Records in July 2026, becoming the world's highest capacity integrated offshore energy complex with a production capacity of 1.236 million barrels per day.

Digital operation and maintenance extend the service life of assets

The core increment of this upgrade project is to fully embed automation control systems, digital twin technology, and intelligent monitoring solutions into the offshore facility system. As the oil field development years increase and the formation pressure gradually decreases, the equipment failure rate and operating costs under traditional operation and maintenance modes will continue to rise. This digital solution can achieve remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, and full process process process optimization, greatly reducing the personnel on duty requirements of offshore platforms and extending the service life of key facilities. Keywords: offshore gas fields, oil

The cooperation between KBR and Saudi Aramco can be traced back to a six-year offshore project management contract in 2015, and has continued to expand service boundaries through the GES+agreement. This Marjan upgrade is the latest landing project of the 11 year long-term cooperation between the two parties. Currently, Saudi Aramco is accelerating its natural gas expansion strategy, aiming to increase its natural gas production capacity by about 80% compared to 2021 by 2030. The upgrading of associated gas processing at the Marjan oil field is a key link supporting this goal and provides a replicable sample for the upgrading and renovation of other aging offshore oil and gas fields in the Arabian Gulf.Editor/Cheng Liting