Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) has invited international engineering companies to express interest in bidding for work on its estimated $5bn Sitra refinery modernisation project.

The downstream oil group will prequalify several first-tier bidders before tendering the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages later this year, according to sources familiar with the project.

The companies invited to express interest in the tender are understood to be:

• Bechtel (US)
• CB&I (US)
• Fluor (US)
• JGC (Japan)
• Technip (France)

The EPC packages are expected to be tendered in the second quarter of 2016, according to one industry source. The first-tier companies are likely to form consortiums with second-tier partners before the contracts are tendered.

Bapco awarded the project management consultancy (PMC) contract for the scheme to Australia-based WorleyParsons in December in a deal worth about $87m.

The Bapco Modernisation Programme (BMP) aims to rehabilitate the refinery as well as increase capacity to 360,000 barrels a day (b/d) from 267,000 to b/d. This will be achieved by integrating several units into the existing refinery, WorleyParsons said.

In October 2014, Bapco awarded a $100m-plus contract to US-based Chevron Lummus Global to carry out design and engineering work on Sitra refinery

The company, a joint venture between the US’ CB&I Lummus and Chevron, will also license its technologies for residue hydrocracking and vacuum gasoil hydrocracking units as part of the refinery’s modernisation programme.

A month earlier, Bapco had awarded France’s Technip a $55m front-end engineering and design (feed) contract for the refinery’s residue conversion unit (RCU).