State-owned downstream operator Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has announced that it intends to merge the $14bn Al-Zour New Refinery Project with a planned petrochemical project located in the same area.

“KBC Advanced Technologies has been appointed as a technical consultant to study the merging of the petrochemical complex and Al-Zour refinery into one integrated refining complex,” Khaled al-Asousi, KNPC Deputy CEO for Support Services told the Arabic daily Alanba.

The contract with the British oil and gas consulting company KBC Advanced Technologies was signed on Tuesday, according to Al-Asousi.

KNPC is yet to announce what the value of the project will be after the merger.

Earlier this month KNPC said that it had pushed back the deadlines for bids for the New Refinery Project packages 1-3 after prequalified companies asked for more time.

In June, when the tenders for the packages were issued, the closing date for submissions was 26 October. Now the bid deadline is 13 January 2015.