Contractors bidding for the construction of  Saudi Aramco’s $300m bulk plant in Hail have requested extensions to the submission deadline.

Aramco has pre-qualified eight local and international contractors to submit bids for bulk plant. They are scheduled to submit proposals for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) deal by 4 September.

The contractors have argued that the project was tendered in June and there were holidays in the Saudi Arabia in July, which didn’t given them enough preparation time. Even if the bids are submitted on time, they also say they won’t be opened and evaluated as the kingdom is preparing for Eid al-Adha holidays, that are expected to begin from 8 September.

The request for extension went in a few weeks ago but the contractors have not received an extension yet, say sources close to the project.

The main contract is expected to be awarded in November this year and the project is due for completion by May 2019.

The pre-qualified bidders are understood to include:

• Gama (Turkey)
• JGC Corporation (Japan)
• Larsen & Toubro (India)
• Nesma & Partners (Local)
• Punj Lloyd (India)
• Sinopec Petroleum Engineering Corporation (China)
• Techint (Italy
• Tekfen Construction (Turkey)

The scope of works includes the construction of storage facilities for diesel and gasoline of up to 300,000 barrels, as well as associated infrastructure and support buildings.

The Hail region acquires its gasoline and diesel requirement from the Qasim bulk plant, situated 300 kilometres away.

The demand for diesel and gasoline in the Hail area is forecast to rise by 3 per cent a year, which convinced Aramco to revive the scheme in 2014, after it was put on hold for many years.

Aramco, which had invited interest from contracting companies in late January 2014, was expected to award the main deal in July the same year, but this was delayed again due to market conditions.

Interested bidders have been invited to submit prices this year as the oil price stabilises around $50 a barrel and the government has finalised the details of its National Transformation Plan, which has reviewed and identified the projects that will proceed in the kingdom.