28-07-2015

Kuwait signs contracts to build new refinery

Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has announced the signing of four contracts with foreign companies for the construction of a new refinery in the country.

The contracts, collectively worth USD 11.5 billion (10.5 billion euros) have been signed with international consortia to build a refinery capable of treating 615,000 barrel per day (bpd) of crude oil in the Persian Gulf Arab state, AFP reported.

According to the report, a USD 4.25-billion contract has been awarded to the main manufacturing units, which include Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas, China's Sinopec Engineering, and South Korea's Hanwha Engineering and Construction Corp, KNPC’s spokesman, Khaled al-Assoussi, said in a statement.

The statement added that the second and third contracts, which are related to necessary infrastructure for the project and are worth USD 5.75 billion, were signed with a consortium consisting of US Fluor Limited and South Korea’s Hyundai heavy Industries in addition to Daewoo Engineering and Construction.

The fourth contract, valued at USD 1.5 billion, has been awarded to South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction and SK Engineering and Construction along with Italian Saipem, the statement said, adding that the fifth contract is scheduled to be awarded within the next two weeks.

The project has been divided into five packages and will be carried out at an estimated cost of USD 16.1 billion. The development came two weeks after Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council agreed to increase the budget allocated to the construction of the refinery by USD 2.9 billion.

Last year, Kuwait held tenders for a USD 12-billion project to upgrade two of its three existing refineries.

The new refinery, which is scheduled to be completed by around 2018, will increase Kuwait's refining capacity from the current figure of 930,000 bpd to 1.4 million bpd.

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