Overseas Construction
Korean construction companies, which won US$7.1 billion worth in orders last month with a US$12 billion project in Kuwait, are poised to repeat the winning streak.
On May 28, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company announced the list of the six consortia that passed the preliminary screening for the New Refinery Project (NRP), which will be underway on an EPC basis. The project is to build the world’s largest oil refinery plant with a daily capacity of 615,000 barrels in Al Zour in southern Kuwait. The project is divided into three packages. The first one, worth US$4.5 billion, is to build distillation, residue oil desulfurization, and hydro-treatment facilities. The second package is to set up hydrogen and sulfur recovery facilities at an investment of US$2.3 billion. Power supply and auxiliary facilities for the oil refinery are constructed through the other one worth US$2.2 billion.
The six consortia are as follows: GS Engineering & Construction, SK E&C, and JGC; Samsung Engineering, Petrofac, and CB&I; Daewoo E&C, Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Fluor; Hyundai E&C, Hyundai Engineering, Daelim Industries, and Saipem; Hanwha E&C, Tecnicas Reunidas, and Sinopec; and KBR and HQCEC.
In the meantime, the three packages of the KNPC’s Clean Fuel Project launched in April were won by the GS and SK E&C consortium (US$4.82 billion), the Samsung Engineering consortium (US$3.78 billion) and the Daewoo E&C consortium (US$3.4 billion).
The contracts for the NRP are expected to be signed in the first half of next year after bids through six months of preparation. The construction process is scheduled to be completed in February 2019.