State upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is likely to award a much-delayed contract for its $1bn effluent water treatment and injection plant in the coming weeks, according to an industry source.

Bids for the project were submitted in February, but the contract has still not been awarded five months later.  The delay was due to all bids coming in massively above the scheme’s original $300m budget, according to the source.

The low bidder for the project was the Dubai-based Dodsal Group, which submitted a price of $946m.

The other bidders were:

• Petrofac (UK) – $1,118m
• Saipem (Italy) – $1,179m
• Daelim Industrial (South Korea) – $1,452m
• Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea) – $1,509m

Earlier this month, the project gained approval for the budget to be raised from $300m to $1bn.

“The delay in awarding this deal was due to the disparity between the budget and the bids. Now that the new budget has been approved, I expect we should see the contract awarded in the near future, maybe by the end of July or during August,” says the source.

The planned facility is to be located between the Sabriyah and Raudatain fields. It will consist of an effluent water treatment plant with a capacity of 950,000 barrels of water a day (MBWPD) and an injection facility with a capacity of 500 MBWPD. It will also include a network of balance tanks that will receive effluent water from various gathering centres.