KOC nears PMC contract awards

31 January 2003
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is close to selecting two companies to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for all its future projects for the next five years. 'We have received competitive bids from six international companies. A selection will be made in two-three weeks,' Ahmed al-Arbeed, KOC's chairman and managing director, told MEED on 25 January. 'We will select two companies for the contracts.'

Six international companies priced the two contracts by the 10 December deadline. The US' Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) is the low bidder for the area 1 and 2 contracts, offering quotes of KD 36.3 million ($121.2 million) and KD 38.9 million ($130 million) respectively. KBR's offer is followed by another US firm, Fluor Daniel, which bid KD 36.4 million ($121.5 million) for area 1 and KD 39.4 million ($131.5 million) for area 2 (MEED 13:12:02). Area 1 covers the northern oil fields, while area 2 is for the south and west oil production facilities.

Industry sources say that KBR is in line for the area 1 PMC contract, while Fluor Daniel is in pole position for area 2.

The US' Parsons Engineering Corporation is currently providing PMC services for all KOC projects under an estimated $45 million-50 million contract awarded in late 2001. The contract is due to expire on 13 June.

KOC plans several new projects, including the construction of a 11.4 million-barrel oil storage and export facility at Ahmadi and a new gas gathering centre (GC 24) with capacity of 160,000 barrels a day in the north (Kuwait, MEED Special Report, 28:6:02, page 25; 17:5:02).

The larger of the two proposed projects is the oil farm and export project, estimated to cost KD 270 million ($900 million). Bids are due to be returned by 4 February for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.

For GC 24, Parsons is due to complete by March the front-end engineering and design (FEED) package for the estimated KD 33 million ($110 million) contract.

A major contract award is pending in the southwest oil fields. On 26 January, the Central Tenders Committee approved the award of a KD 61.9 million ($207 million) contract to South Korea's Daelim Engineers & Construction Company for the effluent disposal project (MEED 20:12:02).

The EPC contract calls for the supply and installation of two water plants and related facilities at the onshore Burgan and Maqwa oil fields. The new facilities will take 22 months to be installed. The consultant is Parsons, which also carried out the FEED package (MEED 10:8:01).

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