State-upstream operator, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has awarded 12 contracts worth a total of $204m in February, including three deals for the remediation of contaminated soil in the southeast of the country.

South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction, Spain’s Hera and India’s TERI were awarded a total of KD45.7m ($163.7m) on 19 February for the decontamination of soil in KOC’s south eastern oil fields.

The south eastern fields have been divided into three groups known as A, B and C. Hera submitted the lowest total bid for the three deals at around $151m, but was only awarded the contract for Lot C.

According to the latest date released by KOC, a $16.1m contract was also signed on 21 February with the local Mechanical Engineering & Contracting Company for the replacement of a 16-inch dia-eocene crude oil supply pipeline from the main crude oil gathering centre at the Wafra field to the Burgan field.

KOC signed only four contracts in January, worth just under $200m. These included a $184m contract with geophysical firm Westerngeco, part of US-based oil field services firm Schlumberger, to gather 3D seismic data on Kuwaiti onshore oil and gas fields.

KOC awarded only $2.6bn-worth of contracts in 2011, almost 80 per cent lower than the $11.6bn signed in 2010.