KNPC has cleared the way for the long-delayed Al-Zour refinery project. And not a moment too soon: the ageing Shuaiba refinery is again offline following a fire.Kuwait’s state refiner KNPC has awarded a KD475mn ($1.57bn) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to Italy’s Saipem and India’s Essar for the construction of a tank farm and pipelines as part of the development of the 615,000 b/d Al-Zour refinery. This final contract takes the total value of awards to KD3.955bn ($13.06bn).
Announcing the award, KNPC head of support services Khalid al-Asusi said the project is expected to be completed over 45 months once the final go-ahead is given. He adds that KNPC is currently preparing the contract documents for the official signing, which is due in October. This meshes with KNPC’s latest estimate for overall project completion “beyond early 2019” (MEES, 26 June) – 45 months from October 2015 is July 2019. (CONTINUED - 826 WORDS)
