Algeria’s national oil company Sonatrach has issued an invitation to bid for the Hassi Messaoud Refinery engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.

Companies have been given three months to submit technical bids. An invitation to submit commercial bids is expected at a later date.

The refinery project contract is estimated to be worth $2.5bn.

On 23 October MEED reported that Sonatrach was preparing to tender the contract.

Prequalification documents were submitted by international contractors in April. Companies that submitted prequalification documents include:

• JGC Corporation
• GS Engineering and Construction
• Maire Tecnimont

The Hassi Messaoud refinery is one of a series of five new refineries that were part of a single scheme announced by the Algerian government in 2013.

Under the original plans, each of the refineries was expected to have a capacity of between 60,000 and 100,000 barrels a day and a budget of $2-3bn.

In February last year, Sonatrach announced that it had awarded the design contract for three of the refineries, including the Hassi Messaoud refinery, to UK-based Amec Foster Wheeler’s division in Italy.

The other two refineries are due to be built at Tiaret in the northwest and at Biskra in the northeast.

Sonatrach decided that a single company would be asked to undertake the design work for all three refineries as they will all be designed to similar specifications.

Amec Foster Wheeler has since been acquired by UK-based Wood Group.

The refineries are intended to supply refined products to the domestic market, replacing imports.

Out of the five refinery projects that were originally announced in 2013 only two are currently active.

These are the Hassi Messaoud Refinery and the Tiaret Refinery. All of the rest are currently on hold.