The contract to construct a fifth gas fractionation train at Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi refinery will be signed within the next two months, according to Hatem al-Awadi, the deputy CEO for projects at state-owned downstream operator Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation (KNPC).

Al-Awadi made the statement to Kuwait’s state-controlled news agency Kuna on the sidelines of a risk management conference.

Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas is low bidder on the contract with a price of KD433.7m ($1.45bn).

Tecnicas Reunidas’ price came in higher than the Kuwait Central Tender Committee (CTC) budget estimate, which was KD363.9m.

The full bidder list is:

• Tecnicas Reunidas, KD433.7m ($1.45bn)
• Daelim Industrial, KD440.4m
• Petrofac, KD494.8m
• GS E&C, KD532.2m

Though the low bid has come in over budget the project isn’t expected to see the same complications as the Al-Zour New Refinery Project.

KNPC is currently weighing whether to retender the scheme to build a new 615,000 b/d greenfield refinery after the low bids for the project’s unawarded packages came in $4.2bn over budget.

“We’re expecting the fifth gas train’s contract award process to be much more straightforward,” one source close to the tendering process said.

The new gas train will increase Kuwait’s production capacity to 805 million cubic feet of gas a day (cf/d) and 106,000 barrels a day (b/d) of condensate.

Gas processed by the facility will include associated gas from the state’s northern and south-eastern oil fields including the early production facilities (EPF) projects.

It will also include gas from KNPC’s acid gas removal plant at Mina al-Ahmadi.