Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) has pushed back by more than a month the bid deadline on a deal to build a $100m-plus liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bottling facility in the north of the emirate.

The company, a subsidiary of state energy giant Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), originally asked firms prequalified to bid on the deal to submit proposals for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract by 26 January (MEED 25:10:2009).

In an official notice to the bidders released on 24 January KOTC said that it will not ask for bids, detailing technical proposals and cost structures, until 2 March.

The delay to the bidding process comes after contractors submitted a series of technical questions on the deal which KOTC has now answered, making updated bid documents available from 24 January.

The winning bidder will build a LPG bottling facility at Umm al-Aish, to the north of Kuwait City.It will include six LPG storage tanks, a series of pumps and compressor stations, and three production lines each capable of filling 1,600 bottles weighing 12kg every hour.

The prequalifiers are South Korea’s Hanwha Engineering & Construction, Larsen & Toubro of India, Ireland’s Kentz Overseas, Italy’s Saipem, France’s Entrepose Contracting, and Canada’s SNC Lavalin.