Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is yet to hear from Kuwait’s Central Tenders Committee (CTC) on whether it will be eligible to bid on the retender of the $800m Al-Zour pipline.

“Larsen & Toubro is hoping to submit a bid for the project and is awaiting approval from CTC,” said a source with knowledge of the matter.

On 17 June, MEED reported that contractors had been told the $800m Al-Zour refinery feed pipeline project would be retendered.

A new bid deadline is expected to be announced after Ramadan, which ends in mid-July.

L&T was originally the low-bidder on the project, but it allowed its bid bond to expire in October 2014, effectively withdrawing from the bidding process and making UAE-based Dodsal the lowest bidder on the scheme instead.

The orgional bidders’ list was:

• L&T (India) – $814m
• Dodsal (Dubai) – $922m
• Eni Saipem (Italy) – $946m
• Daelim Industrial (South Korea) – $959m
• Petrofac (UK) – $1bn

According to an industry source, Dodsal may choose not to bid on the pipeline retender, and instead focus on projects that it has already won in Kuwait.

If both L&T and Dodsal do not bid on the project, only the three highest bidders will be left as potential candidates, increasing the chances that the low bid on the project will come in higher than when the pipeline was first tendered.

The contract’s scope includes the construction of about 250 kilometres of oil feedstock pipelines that will serve the planned 615,00 barrel-a-day (b/d) greenfield Al-Zour New Refinery Project (NRP) in southern Kuwait.