Kuwait delays tenders to upgrade refineries and build power plant

Kuwait has delayed tenders for contracts to upgrade refineries and build a power plant. The refinery tenders for a $ 15 bn overhaul of Kuwait's Mina Abudullah and Mina al-Ahmadi plants would be issued in the fourth quarter, said Mohammad Al-Ajmi, KNPC spokesman. Kuwait had previously planned to launch the tender in August.
He gave no reason for the delay. Oil minister Mohammad al-Olaim has come under scrutiny in parliament over the award of contracts to build a giant new refinery in the Gulf Arab state. But a parliamentary committee in July gave the government the nod for the project after investigating claims that lower bids were ignored when the contracts were awarded.

Prequalified companies could be shortlisted for the next round of refinery upgrade contracts in October, Ajmi said. Approval for the project's budget from the Supreme Petroleum Council is expected by November, he added.
Upgrades could cost as much as $ 22 bn, citing oil sources. KNPC Chairman Farouk al-Zanki told in Julythe projects might be worth dinars 4 bn ($ 14.96 bn).

KNPC plans to boost the combined capacity of the two refineries to 800,000 bpd from 600,000 bpd by adding more units to Mina Abdullah, and revamping Mina Abdullah. The Gulf Arab state has also extended the closing date for submitting bids in a tender to build turbines for a 700 mm dinar power plant with a capacity of 2,000 MW, said Khaled al-Wasmi, assistant undersecretary at the Ministry of Electricity and Water.
"The closing date was postponed till Oct. 7, based on the request of the (bidding) firms," Wasmi told. He said winners of the tender are expected to be announced by the end of November, adding the power plant is still expected to start operation in 2011 as previously scheduled.

The pre-qualified companies biding for the plant in the north of the country at Subbiya are US General Electric, Japan's Mitsui & Co and Marubeni, Siemens, Spain's Iberdrola Ingenieria y Construccion, and Canada's SNC-Lavalin.
Kuwait plans to launch tenders for power expansion worth more than $ 2.5 bn to meet rising power demand fuelled by economic and population growth. The OPEC-member aims to boost its power capacity to around 16,000 MW by 2012 from around 10,000 MW.