Indian firm Larsen & Toubro has emerged as the lowest bidder on the project to build a new crude transit pipeline from North Kuwait to Al-Ahmadi in the south of the country.

The Trunk Line Five (TL5) pipeline will have a capacity of 1 million barrels a day. Mumbai-based L&T submitted a bid of KD79.6m ($262m) for the project, which will act as a back-up to the existing Trunk Line Three pipeline transferring North Kuwait crude to the central mixing manifold in Al-Ahmadi in the south.

Athens-based CCC submitted the next lowest bid of $312m, followed by Italy’s Saipem, which submitted a bid of $345m.

The list of bidders and their prices are as follows:

• Larsen & Toubro ($262m)
• CCC ($312m)
• Saipem ($345m)
• China National Petroleum Corporation ($367.3m)

Seventeen international contractors were prequalified to submit proposals for the turnover of the TL5 pipeline project, which will transfer crude to the North and South Tank Farms for export.

The scope of work on the project includes:

• Execution of a new TL-5 pipeline
• All associated works
• Tie-ins
• Pig traps
• Sectionalising valves
• Control and instrumentation
• Control building at point A
• Stations and equipment
• Modifications and upgrade of existing TL-3 facilities

The crude pipeline scheme is also set to provide interfaces to the Lower Fars Heavy Oil Development as well as the construction of a new strategic gas export pipeline from North Kuwait to Mina al-Ahmadi.

KOC is undertaking an infrastructure upgrade of its crude transportation, storage and export facilities as it seeks to boost production to 4 million barrels a day by 2020.

The oil company had planned to tender the TL5 pipeline around the same time as Gathering Centre 32, which was awarded earlier this year to the UK’s Petrofac. The $1.65bn gathering centre is being developed to deal with increasing sourness from the southeastern Burgan field.