Kuwait awards $11.5bn contract for developing al-Zour oil refinery

Kuwait has awarded contracts totalling KWD3.48bn ($11.5bn) for construction of the al-Zour oil refinery in the country.

The deals have been awarded by the state-owned Kuwait National Petroleum to consortiums including Tecnicas Reunidas and Daewoo Engineering & Construction and China Sinopec.

The refinery is expected to have a daily capacity for 615,000 barrels of oil, which can be raised up to 700,000 to 800,000 barrels in the future.

Once operational, it can be one of the largest in the Midde East, reports Kuwait’s national news agency Kuna.

Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas, China-based Sinopec and South Korean Hanwha Engineering and Construction are parts of the first consortium, which is responsible for building the main process units of the refinery under a contract valued at KWD1.28bn ($4.2bn).

The second contract is worth KWD1.74bn ($5.7bn) and has been awarded to a group formed by Daewoo Engineering and Construction, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Fluor to provide support units and infrastructure services for the facility.

The third consortium, which has secured a KWD454m ($1.4bn) contract for setting up the marine export terminal, includes Hyundai Engineering and Construction, SK Engineering and Construction and Saipem.

KNPC spokesman Khalid al-Asousi was cited by the news agency as saying that the major contract for the project is likely to be awarded in the next two weeks.

All the contracts for the project, which is expected to cost KWD6.7bn ($23bn), are likely to be signed in October.