Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) has won an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build desalter trains at four crude oil gathering centres operated by state-owned Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).

The value of NPCC’s EPC contract has been reported as $231m.

The contract will allow NPCC to build desalter facilities to reduce crude salinity at the four oil gathering stations – GC-09, GC-10, GC-19 and GC-21.

MEED had earlier reported that NPCC had submitted the lowest bid for the job, although KOC found it to be 20 per cent higher than its budget for the contract. KOC signed a formal contract for the works with NPCC on 18 October.

Five contractors submitted commercial bids for the project, out of the 15 that were pre-qualified to bid for the job.

Desalter units remove salts including calcium, sodium and magnesium chloride that are dissolved in the water mixed with crude oil.

If these compounds are not removed from the oil, they can cause problems during the refining process, including the formation of corrosive hydrochloric acid and deposits that can block heat exchangers.