Growing Middle East
Daelim Industrial and Daewoo Engineering & Construction announced on July 6 that they are participating in the tender for New Refinery Project (NRP) Package No. 4 in Al Zour, Kuwait for the construction of low-sulfur fuel oil production facilities having an annual capacity of 615,000 barrels. The package of the project led by the Kuwait National Petroleum Company is expected to cost US$1.3 billion, and the deadline for the bidding is July 7.
The first bidding for the package was carried out earlier this year. The Italian-Indonesian consortium of Saipem and Essar was selected as the preferred bidder, but the parties failed to reach an agreement during the price negotiations. All of the other bidders were Korean companies or consortia that included Korean companies.
Having a total cost of US$14 billion, the NRP is divided into five packages. The fifth, the bidding process of which was completed in Jan. this year, is expected to be won by the consortium of Hyundai Engineering & Construction, SK Engineering & Construction and Saipem. Korean builders suggested the lowest prices in March for the first, second, and third places, too.
In the meantime, the tender for the NRP pipeline works ordered by Kuwait Oil Company are scheduled for next month. The purpose of the project is to build 250 km-long pipelines for the supply of crude oil to the facilities in Al Zour. The project cost is estimated to reach at least US$1 billion.