State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is planning to tender the contract for the upgrade of gas booster station 160 (BS-160) before the end of the first quarter of 2019, according to industry sources.

“KOC is planning to issue the invitation to bid soon,” said one source. “The tender is expected probably before the end of this year. If not it will be released in the first quarter of 2019.”

“This is going to be one of the next big oil and gas contracts to be tendered in the country.”

The project will be tendered using the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model and has an estimated budget of $270m. The booster station is located in southeast Kuwait and was originally constructed with two identical single-stage compression trains.

Together, the two trains have the capacity to process 500 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of sour gas. This gas is taken from gathering centres 3, 4, 6, 7 and 21. The upgrade will add a third train to the plant as well as associated facilities.

The original EPC contract for BS-160 was awarded to Italy’s Saipem in April 2008 with a contract value of $676m. It was completed in October 2011.