Kuwait’s Central Tenders Committee (CTC) has approved Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) for a $71.5m deal to build new gas export transit pipelines in the west of Kuwait.

CCC submitted the lowest bid at KD19.5m to state-upstream operator, Kuwait Oil Company, along with 19 other local and international firms on 26 April.

The proposed pipeline will take sulphur-rich gas from a new booster station-171 (BS-171) in the west of Kuwait to be treated at the acid gas removal plant in the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery.

Booster stations are used to gather and compress gas produced as a by-product of oil production, before distribution to refineries for processing.

BS-171 is currently being built by Italy’s Saipem and is expected to be completed by the middle of 2013. Gas will come from the existing gathering centres 17, 27 and 28, as well as the new gathering centre 16 (MEED 12:2:10).

State-refiner, Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) is building a second $400m acid-gas removal plant at the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery, which should be completed in 2014.