Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has delayed bid deadlines for two major maintenance deals at its facilities in the north and west of the country, worth about $70m in total.

The state oil and gas producer had originally asked prequalified firms to submit engineering and cost proposals by 24 January, but has now postponed the final submission date to 23 February without giving an explanation for the delay.

Both contracts cover mechanical, electrical and maintenance at all of KOC’s production facilities in the designated areas for a period of five years and contractors will need to provide all relevant equipment.

KOC’s facilities in west Kuwait include the oil and gas gathering centres GC-16, GC-17, GC-27 and GC-28; booster station BS-170; a water injection plant at Minganish and a pumping station at Abdulliyah.

The company is also in the process of developing new production facilities such as gathering centre GC-16 and booster station BS-171 in the area. The maintenance deal will also cover these when construction has been completed.

Its facilities in north Kuwait include the KOC workshop at Umm al-Aish; gathering centres GC-15, GC-23, GC-24 and GC-25; booster station BS-132; and central processing and distribution facilities at Subiyah.

KOC has set a KD500,000 ($1.7m) bid bond for both contracts, suggesting an outright value of KD10m.