The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract is aimed at increasing storage capacity by 11.4 million barrels. It is composed of five main elements:

General works, which include the construction of a north pier for the loading of crude oil, a crude oil control centre and related works;

Tanks and gravity lines, which call for the construction of 19 storage tanks;

Fifteen tanks to be built at the north farm and four at the south farm. The package also calls for the construction of four new crude-filling and gravity manifolds and the supply and installation of five new 48-inch-diameter pipelines;

Pumps and metering skids, including the construction of a new pump station and the supply and installation of four new pumps and metering skids; and

Offshore works, which involve the construction of two single point mooring (SPM) calm buoys and upgrading of the two existing SPM units, installation of three new submarine pipelines and the construction of a bunker fuel facility.

The project was first tendered in mid-2003, with Oslo-based Aker Kvaernersubmitting a low bid of about $779 million. However, a contract was not awarded and the tender was cancelled a week before bid bonds were due to expire. The US' Parsons Engineering Corporationcarried out the front-end engineering and design (FEED).

The Ahmadi export facilities project is designed to support sustainable production levels of 3 million barrels a day. More storage work is planned by KOC.

Tekfen has started work on the KD 64 million ($220 million) EPC contract to build new storage tanks, also at Ahmadi. The two-year project covers the construction of eight crude storage tanks with capacity of 4.9 million barrels, as well as associated infrastructure, piping and instrumentation works.