Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has awarded local Hot Engineering & Construction Company a five-year maintenance deal for crude oil production facilities in the west of the country.

The deal, worth about KD46.5m ($164.6m), was signed on 2 August, according to the state-run oil producer.

The company’s proposal beat rival bids from Heavy Engineering Industries & Shipbuilding Company (Heisco), Al-Ghanim International, ABJ Engineering, Kharafi National, Al-Meer Technical Services Company, Imco Engineering & Construction, all local; and Ireland’s Kentz Overseas.

The firm will now provide mechanical and electrical maintenance for five years at KOC’s production facilities in the west of the country.

This is the latest in a series of maintenance contracts awarded by the state oil firm and its sister company, Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), as they seek to maintain the country’s ageing oil and gas infrastructure.

Local ABJ Engineering & Contracting won a similar five-year maintenance deal worth $173m on 7 July for maintenance covering oil production facilities in the north of the country (MEED 7:7:10).

KOC is also seeking to increase production to 4 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2020, from approximately 2.5 million b/d today.