Downstream operator Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has awarded the final package of its Al-Zour New Refinery Project (NRP) to a consortium of Italy’s Saipem and India’s Essar.

The contract for the package, which is known as package four, is worth KD475m ($1.57bn), according to Khalid al-Asousi, KNPC’s CEO for support services, who announced the award on 12 August.

KNPC is currently preparing contract paperwork ahead of the official signing ceremony that will be held ihn October, according to Al-Asousi.

KNPC retendered package four in May in an attempt to cut costs and secure a lower price, but the retender produced a low bid that was KD68m ($224m) more than the original low bid of KD407m.

The scope of package four includes storage tanks, piping and underground works.

There were four bidders vying for the contract and they are:

• Saipem (Italy) / Essar (India) – KD475m
• Daelim (South Korea) – KD498m
• Daewoo (South Korea) – KD532m
• Petrofac (UK) / Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea) – KD615m

The winners of packages one, two, three and five, worth a total of $11.5bn, were named on 28 July by Kuwait’s Central Tenders Committee (CTC).