Pre-qualified contractors have submitted technical bids for the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s (Adnoc) $2.5bn gasoline and aromatics project (GAP).

Technical bids were submitted on 25 October, according to a source. Previously, the deadline for the technical bid submission was 6 September, and this was then postponed to 6 October.

The commercial bid deadline is currently set for 25 December, although the source says it is likely to be extended further.

MEED previously reported that a senior Adnoc official had said that the operator would make its final investment decision on the project “by year-end or early next year”.

Meanwhile, firms are also gearing up to submit bids for the project management consultancy (PMC) for the EPC works on the project.

The deadline for submitting PMC bids for the EPC works is 20 November. That contract is estimated to be worth about $30m, according to MEED’s source. It is understood that a total of 10 firms are in the running for the job.

The UK’s Wood Group is executing the front-end engineering and design (feed) works on the GAP, while the US-based Jacobs is providing PMC services for the feed aspect of the project.