More than 20 companies have bought prequalification documents for the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for the Al-Zour Petrochemical Complex, according to industry sources.

“This is the only very large hydrocarbon project that is on the horizon at the moment in Kuwait so there has been a lot of interest,” said one source.

“We’re expecting joint ventures will be involved for all of the main EPC contracts. In some cases the joint ventures could include three companies.”

Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC), the project client, has already announced that companies have until 20 September 2018 to submit prequalification bids for the main EPC contracts.

The documents revealed that KIPIC will divide the prequalification into two separate processes. One process focuses on the olefins, aromatics and gasoline process units, while the other accommodates marine work and pipelines.

The UK’s Wood Group is carrying out the front-end engineering and design (feed) work for the project, and at present, the plan is to split the project up into three EPC packages:

• Aromatics and gasoline unit
• Olefins unit
• Marine and pipelines unit.

The olefins block has been provisionally estimated to be worth $1.5bn, and the aromatics 2 block has been valued at $5bn. Additionally, the gasoline block is estimated to be worth $1.3bn. Although these are currently provisional estimates and may change as the final scope of each unit reaches finalisation.

Honeywell UOP was announced as the technology provider for the project in November.

The petrochemicals facility will be integrated with the $17bn Al-Zour New Refinery Project.

When completed, it will be the largest integrated refinery and petrochemicals plant in Kuwait. It will produce aromatics and propylene and is a key part of Kuwait’s broader industrial strategy.

The petrochemicals project includes a 50,000 barrel-a-day (b/d) residue fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) complex with ethylene and propylene recovery, a 24,000 b/d gasoline desulphurisation unit and two units to treat propane for propylene production.

It will be capable of converting butane to isobutane and producing clean-fuels blending components including methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE).

The facility will include a 66,000 b/d continuous catalyst regeneration (CCR) platforming unit with a 74,000 b/d naphtha hydrotreater to make gasoline blend stock.

The aromatics complex will have the capacity to make 1.4 million tonnes of paraxylene a year.

A propane dehydrogenation unit will produce 660,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of polymer-grade propylene.

Feed work for the planned petrochemicals plant was initially expected to be completed at the end of June 2018, but saw some delays.

The main EPC contracts for the new refinery project were awarded in mid-2015 and are under execution.

On 16 December, KIPIC denied MEED reports that the refinery project was delayed.

It said work was proceeding on schedule and the refinery would start operations in May 2019.

In April 2018, Khaled Mahdi, secretary general of Kuwait’s Supreme Council for Planning & Development, said the project had been delayed and is now targeting completion by December 2019.