The Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has signed contracts worth Dollars 13.2 billion (11.6 billion euros) to build a new refinery. Currently, the JV is working on one of the packages for KNPC’s Clean Fuels project, while work is expected to begin soon for the new contract. That will increase Kuwait’s refining capacity by more than 50 percent, as the country looks to take a larger position in managing the flow of energy out the Middle East.
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Construction of the 615,000 barrel per day refinery could be a major boost to Kuwait’s economy, which has slowed in recent years due to political tensions and low oil prices. That project is to upgrade and expand two of Kuwait’s largest refineries to focus on producing higher-value products for export, such as diesel and kerosene.
“Al Zour refinery along with other ongoing mega projects will change the landscape of the oil refining industry in Kuwait”, Mohammad Ghazi Al-Mutairi, head of KNPC, said during a signing ceremony in Kuwait Tuesday. A tender to build a permanent liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal will close in November, with the awarding of contracts for project expected by early 2016, Mutairi said. According to Mutairi, both projects are now under study.
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The refinery will be built in five packages, with the first valued at 1.28 billion dinars awarded to Technicas, Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corp. and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, Khaled Al-Awadhi, KNPC project manager, said at the signing ceremony.
