ADNOC Gas has confirmed Tecnimont as the EPC contractor for the $4.3 billion third phase of its Rich Gas Development programme, putting one of the Middle East’s largest gas processing construction projects firmly into execution.

The Italian contractor will build a fifth NGL fractionation train at Ruwais capable of producing around 23,000 tonnes per day, or approximately 8 million tonnes per year, with completion scheduled for 2030.

For suppliers, the interesting part is not simply the size of the award. The scope combines a major fractionation train with gas treatment, refrigeration, storage and supporting infrastructure, creating several billion dollars of procurement and subcontracting opportunities over the next four years.

A $4.3 billion EPC job at Ruwais

Tecnimont’s scope covers engineering, procurement and construction of the fifth NGL fractionation unit at ADNOC Gas’ Ruwais complex.

The new train will separate the NGL stream into products including ethane, propane, butane, isobutane and pentane. Treatment and sweetening systems will remove contaminants before the products move into downstream petrochemical, fuel and export markets.

The package also includes a regeneration gas treatment unit, propane refrigeration system, ancillary facilities and new storage infrastructure.

That makes this considerably more than another process train.

Propane refrigeration brings a significant rotating equipment component into the project, while the treatment systems require substantial pressure vessels, columns, heat exchangers, pumps, filtration equipment and process instrumentation. Storage adds another major fabrication package, together with associated loading, piping and safety systems.

For Tecnimont, the project also substantially reinforces its position in Abu Dhabi, where MAIRE has increasingly targeted large-scale downstream and gas processing work.

Where the money will go

Based on EPCIntel.com benchmarking of comparable large gas processing and NGL projects, the $4.3 billion EPC value could translate into several major procurement packages.

Process equipment, fractionation columns, vessels and heat exchangers could account for roughly $650 million to $850 million, while compressors, refrigeration equipment, pumps and other rotating machinery could represent another $400 million to $550 million.

Piping, valves and associated bulk materials could reach $500 million to $650 million, with storage tanks and product handling infrastructure potentially worth $250 million to $350 million.

Electrical, instrumentation, control systems and telecommunications could contribute another $300 million to $400 million. Civil works, structural steel, buildings and construction subcontracting could easily exceed $600 million, particularly given that the project is being integrated into an operating industrial complex.

The remainder will cover engineering, project management, commissioning, temporary facilities, logistics and other indirect costs.

These are EPCIntel estimates rather than disclosed package values, but they show why the project will matter well beyond the headline EPC award. Hundreds of equipment vendors, fabricators and specialist subcontractors are likely to feed into Tecnimont’s supply chain before the plant reaches completion in 2030.

Part of a much bigger gas programme

Ruwais is only one piece of ADNOC Gas’ Rich Gas Development strategy.

ADNOC Gas took FID on the first phase in June 2025, committing approximately $5 billion to expansions and efficiency improvements across Asab, Buhasa, Habshan and Das Island.

The company has now moved forward with the next stages. Phase 2 will be delivered by Wison Engineering and adds another natural gas processing train at Habshan, while Tecnimont’s Phase 3 covers the new Ruwais fractionation capacity. Together with Phase 1, ADNOC Gas says investment across the Rich Gas Development programme has reached $13.2 billion.

The logic is straightforward. ADNOC is developing additional gas resources and increasing associated gas availability as its upstream production expands. ADNOC Gas needs more infrastructure to process those volumes, extract higher-value liquids and move them into domestic petrochemical and international markets.

Ruwais sits at the downstream end of that chain.

ADNOC Gas is already receiving additional NGL infrastructure investment elsewhere in its system, including the $3.6 billion MERAM project connecting expanded processing facilities at Habshan with Ruwais through a dedicated 120-kilometre NGL pipeline.

By 2030, Tecnimont’s new fractionation train should therefore be arriving just as considerably larger volumes of liquids are flowing through ADNOC’s gas network.

For the EPC supply chain, the conclusion is simpler. A $4.3 billion project has moved from an anticipated Abu Dhabi opportunity into a defined Tecnimont procurement programme, and the purchasing cycle for some of its largest equipment packages should now become increasingly important.