Saudi Arabia’s industrial gas infrastructure will continue to grow to support the planned projects in energy and non-energy sectors.

The kingdom plans to make huge capital expenditure across all industry sectors and this is expected to spur the industrial gases sector, according to a report by the National Commercial Bank (NCB).

The “Saudi Industrial Gases Sector Report” said NCB estimates that actual project capital expenditures will be SR238.2 billion ($64.83 billion) for the year.

Industrial gases is a generic term used to describe a wide range of atmospheric and fuel gases and gas mixtures. Industrial gases are produced by a wide range of methods, with main methods comprising air separation units (ASU).

The report said the market continues to be fragmented and the pricing of gases differs across the regions due mainly to logistical factors.

The report noted that the largest challenge faced by the industrial gases sector is that which “renders it at the mercy of project pipelines in the market. These may come in the form of the over-design of facilities or the risk that upon completion of a plant, the end-consumer can no longer purchase its capacity due to potential operational issues.”