State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has put its $750m project to upgrade Gathering Centre 24 on hold and is considering cancelling the scheme, according to sources close to the project.
“Some officials at KOC believe that building a new gathering centre would be a better strategy than the planned upgrade project,” said one source.
Companies were previously expecting an invitation to bid for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to be issued in October this year.
The upgrade project was designed to increase the capacity of Gathering Centre 24 by 50,000 barrels a day (b/d).
Its current capacity is 165,000 b/d.
The project’s scope was due to include:
- Gas and oil separators
- Flowlines
- Feeder networks
- Pumping stations
- Compressors
- Control system
- Associated facilities
UK-based Amec Forster Wheeler was awarded the contract for the project’s front end engineering design (Feed) in 2015.
