State refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC) said on Saturday it had postponed the award of a tender for a new 615,000 barrels per day refinery by three months to March due to delayed bidding by international firms.
"The contractors are asking for postponement and we try to accommodate the contractors as much as possible," KNPC Chairman and Managing Director Sami Rushaid told a news conference.
Rushaid also said KNPC was likely to award in September or October 2007 a tender for a major upgrade project to boost the refining capacity of two of the three existing refineries. He said the Supreme Petroleum Council last week initially approved the project which involves upgrading the 460,000-bpd Mina Ahmadi and the 270,000-bpd Mina Abdullah refineries.
KNPC officials say the new refinery, coupled with the upgrade works to end in August 2011, will boost Kuwait's total refining capacity to 1.5 million bpd from 930,000 bpd now. Asked when the upgrade project tenders will be awarded, Rushaid said: "I imagine it will be in September or October 2007 ... It is expected around the last quarter of this year."
Regarding the new refinery tender, originally scheduled for award in December, he said: "We still have not received the bids. When we do receive the bids in December, three months after that we will (award it)." Asked if that meant the new award will be in March, Rushaid replied: "Yes, yes."
Eleven international companies are bidding for the new refinery which is due to be completed by 2010 and is estimated to cost about $6 billion. The complex will mostly produce low sulphur fuel oil for the state's electricity plants. Kuwait and Louisiana recently signed an initial deal to study building a refinery in the southern US state.
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