The study looking into the possible integration of a petrochemical facility with the Al-Zour New Refinery is due to see completion before the end of the year according to a source close to the project.

“The study entered feasibility stage in July and is expected to be completed by year end,” said the source.

Originally it was expected that the study, which is being conducted by KBC Advanced Technologies, would be completed within the first half of 2015.

Kuwait announced that it had revived plans for the multibillion-dollar petrochemicals project called Olefins 3 in September 2014.

It said it would be integrating the facility with the 615,000 barrel-a-day (b/d) New Refinery Project (NRP), which is to be built in the Divided Zone that the country shares with Saudi Arabia.

If the project comes to fruition, it will significantly increase the country’s chemicals output and broaden the range of petrochemicals produced.