Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Apr. 6 -- Kuwait National Petroleum Co. has prequalified 11 companies for construction of a 600,000 b/d refinery 100 km south of Kuwait City in the Al-Zour area.
The companies include Technip, Foster Wheeler Italiana, GS Engineering & Construction Corp., SK Engineering & Construction Co., Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Stone & Webster International Inc., and Petrofac International Ltd.
KNPC has divided the project into four major contracts, with construction due for completion by early 2010. Two contracts are for manufacturing units in the refinery, one for utilities and services, and another for storage tanks and a pier.
Kuwait has three refineries—at Al-Ahmadi, Mina Abdullah, and Shuaiba—with combined capacity of about 915,000 b/d.
KNPC plans to upgrade Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah by early 2011, but it plans to close Shuaiba once Al-Zour and the upgrades are completed, giving the country a total refining capacity of around 1.4 million b/d.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
