Published: August 15, 2025 |

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Aramco has signed an $11 billion lease and leaseback deal involving its Jafurah Gas Processing Facilities with a consortium of international investors, led by funds managed by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock.

Jafurah is the largest non-associated gas development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, estimated to contain 229 trillion standard cubic feet of raw gas and 75 billion stock tank barrels of condensate. It is a key component in Aramco’s plans to increase gas production capacity by 60 percent between 2021 and 2030, to meet rising demand.

As part of the transaction a newly-formed subsidiary, Jafurah Midstream Gas Company (JMGC), will lease development and usage rights for the Jafurah Field Gas Plant and the Riyas NGL Fractionation Facility, and lease them back to Aramco for a period of 20 years. JMGC will receive a tariff payable by Aramco in exchange for granting Aramco the exclusive right to receive, process, and treat raw gas from Jafurah.

Aramco will hold a 51 percent majority stake in JMGC, with the remaining 49 percent held by investors led by GIP. The transaction, which will not impose any restrictions on Aramco’s production volumes, is expected to close as soon as practicable, subject to customary closing conditions. 

“Jafurah is a cornerstone of our ambitious gas expansion program, and the GIP-led consortium’s participation as investors in a key component of our unconventional gas operations demonstrates the attractive value proposition of the project. This foreign direct investment into the Kingdom also highlights the appeal of Aramco’s long-term strategy to the international investment community,” said Amin Nasser, Aramco president and CEO.

“As Jafurah prepares to start phase one production this year, development of subsequent phases is well on track. We look forward to Jafurah playing a major role as a feedstock provider to the petrochemicals sector, and supplying energy required to power new growth sectors, such as AI data centers, in the Kingdom,” added Nasser.

“We are pleased to deepen our partnership with Aramco with our investment in Saudi Arabia’s natural gas infrastructure, a key pillar of global natural gas markets. Today’s announcement builds upon BlackRock and GIP’s longstanding relationship with Aramco to serve growing market needs for cleaner fuels, energy security and energy affordability,” said Bayo Ogunlesi, chairman and CEO of GIP.

The opportunity to invest in one of the region’s most significant natural gas developments garnered significant interest from investors worldwide. Co-investors in the transaction include leading institutional investors from Asia and the Middle East. When completed, the transaction will support the optimization of Aramco’s assets and capture additional value from the development of the Jafurah gas field.

GIP’s mid-market infrastructure equity team, which invests in diversified and contracted mid-market infrastructure assets and businesses around the world, has a robust, long-term track record of successful investments in the Middle East. This investment also builds upon the strong existing relationship between Aramco and BlackRock. In 2022, BlackRock co-led a consortium of investors in a separate minority investment in Aramco Gas Pipelines Company.

Aramco is a global integrated energy and chemicals company. They are driven by their core belief that energy is opportunity. From producing approximately one in every eight barrels of the world’s oil supply to developing new energy technologies, their global team is dedicated to creating impact in all that they do. They focus on making their resources more dependable, more sustainable, and more useful.

Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock, is a leading infrastructure investor that specializes in investing in, owning and operating some of the largest and most complex assets across the energy, transport, digital infrastructure, and water and waste management sectors. With energy pragmatism central to its investment thesis, they are well positioned to support the global energy transition. GIP’s scaled platform has more than $183 billion in assets under management. They believe that their focus on real infrastructure assets, combined with deep proprietary origination network and comprehensive operational expertise, enables them to be responsible stewards of clients’ capital and to create positive economic impact communities.

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