Front end engineering design (feed) work for the planned petrochmeicals plant at the Al Zour site in Kuwait is proceeding on schedule, according to industry sources.

“The feed contract was signed in January 2016,” said one source. “It’s a 17-month contract so if it’s completed on time it should be done by the end of June [2018]. At the moment everything is going well and nothing suggests there will be any delays.”

Estimates as to the estimated value of the main engineering, procurement and construction contracts vary $2.8bn to $5bn.

“We’re expecting the project to be divided into three EPC packages. We’re still not sure of the exact scale and scope of the project. That will become clearer when the feed is complete,” said another source.

The planned petrochemicals facility will be integrated with the KIPIC megaproject to build a $17bn refinery in the Al-Zour region, known as the New Refinery Project.

The facility is expected to include units to produce polypropylene, paraxylene and gasoline.

Technology providers are currently waiting to here the results of a tender process for contracts to provide proprietary technology for the petrochemicals facility.

The main EPC contracts for the New Refinery Project were awarded in mid-2015 and are currently under execution. The New Refinery Project is due to be completed before the end of 2019.