State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has received bids for two major soil remediation tenders as part of its Kuwait Environmental Remediation Programme (KERP).

Bids were submitted ahead of a deadline on 15 November, according to industry sources.

The two major remediation tenders have been significantly delayed this year.

They were initially launched in January and are part of the largest environmental remediation project in the world: the $2.9bn KERP.

The first project has been named the North Kuwait excavation, transportation and remediation project.

The other project has been named the South Kuwait excavation, transportation and remediation project.

In a statement when the tenders were issued, KOC said: “These tenders address a large percentage of the KERP and are cornerstones of the overall project.

“They address approximately 13 million cubic metres of oil-contaminated soil."

The KERP was established by the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) to allow Kuwait to address the environmental damage resulting from the 1990-91 Gulf War.

These tenders have been rolled out to the market to address UNCC claim number 5000454.

The claim is for soil damage, including wet and dry oil lakes, as well as oil-contaminated piles.

The area comprises 114 square kilometres of land contaminated by crude oil from the destruction of approximately 700 oil wells in Kuwait.

The fires took nearly a year to bring under control.

In March 2018, KOC awarded a project management consultancy contract to Australia’s WorleyParsons as part of KERP.