State-owned downstream operator Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has officially announced its decision to retender package four of the Al-Zour New Refinery Project (NRP).

The process is going to be fast-tracked and the closing date for submissions is 23 June.

KNPC’s official announcement comes after the tankage package came in $263m over budget.

MEED originally reported that the operator had decided to retender the package on 16 April.

The package consists of storage tanking, piping and underground works for the planned refinery, which will be built on the Kuwaiti side of the Divided Zone. This lies between the borders of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The retendering of package four comes after bids for the NRP’s five unawarded packages all came in over budget, requiring billions of dollars in extra funding.

A consortium of Italy’s Saipem and India’s Essar was the low bidder on the package, with a bid of KD406.9m ($1.35bn).

KNPC’s budget was $1.1bn, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

The bidders were:

• Saipem (Italy) and Essar (India), KD406.9m
• Daelim (South Korea), KD503.4m
• Daewoo (South Korea), KD560.8
• Petrofac (UK) and Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea), KD623.3m

There is ongoing speculation that other packages for the NRP will also be retendered.

Out of all the five unawarded packages, the low bid on package four was the closest to being within budget.