Workers on Kuwait National Petroleum Company’s (KNPC’s) Clean Fuels Project (CFP) are going to be mobilised in October, according to an industry source.

“The construction of temporary structures on the Mina al-Ahmadi site will begin after September,” says the source.

“These include mobile offices and workshops. Work on the main structure will start after preliminary engineering is completed.”

Construction of the main structure is expected to start in February 2015, after the completion of a 10-month period of preliminary engineering, according to the industry source.

The CFP will increase refining capacity at the Mina al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries to 800,000 barrels a day (b/d) from 730,000 b/d currently, while retiring the older 200,000-b/d Shuaiba refinery and significantly reducing sulphur content in products.

A total of $12bn of CFP engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contracts were awarded on 15 April. These include:

• The $3.8bn Mina Abdullah package one, which was won by a joint venture of Petrofac (UK), Samsung Engineering (South Korea) and CB&I Lummus (US);
• The $3.4bn Mina Abdullah package two, which was won by a joint venture of Daewoo Engineering & Construction (South Korea), Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea), and Fluor (US);
• The $4.8bn Mina al-Ahmadi package, which was won by a joint venture of GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea), SK Engineering & Construction (South Korea), and JGC Corporation (Japan).

The CFP was first announced in 2007 and in February 2008, KNPC awarded technology contracts for the scheme to several international firms, including US engineering and technical services company Chevron Lummus. Orders for 37 reactors and vessels were placed, but the project stalled in 2009.

Kuwait’s Supreme Petroleum Council reviewed the project in 2010 and the plans were finally approved in June 2011.