KBR Inc. (KBR) won a contract from the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (SOI.YY) to develop a natural gas liquids program in the Shaybah oil field in Saudi Arabia, according to a spokeswoman of another oilfield engineering company that won a similar development contract from Saudi Aramco.

Houston-based KBR will provide engineering and project management services for the Shaybah natural gas liquids project, according to a spokeswoman for Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNCAF). SNC-Lavalin announced earlier Monday that it won another contract from Saudi Aramco to develop the smaller Wasit gas development project.

Together, the two natural gas projects are worth nearly US$7 billion, according to people familiar with the plans, and are designed to meet rising demand for natural gas in Saudia Arabia, the Middle East's largest economy.

A KBR spokeswoman said in an email that KBR didn't "have anything to report at this time" about the Shaybah project and that "everything is still a work in progress."

Other companies that submitted bids for the two contracts on Aug. 22 include Fluor Corp. (FLR), Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) and Technip S.A. (TKPPY), according to people familiar with the plans.

The Shaybah project involves the installation of a natural gas liquids recovery facility, the de-bottlenecking of existing gas-oil separation facilities and the installation of facilities at the Berri gas plant to handle the natural gas liquids from the recovery facility.

The Wasit gas development project will create facilities for the processing and production of up to 2.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Aribiyah and Hasbah offshore gas fields. It's a five-year development project that is scheduled to begin Oct. 1.

KBR shares closed down 72 cents to $22.35 on the New York Stock Exchange Monday. SNC-Lavalin shares closed up 30 cents to C$48.56 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

-By Edward Welsch, Dow Jones Newswires; 613-237-0669; edward.welsch@dowjones.com

(Oliver Klaus contributed to this report.)