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Saudi Arabia’s Al-Dar Engineering has been awarded a contract by state-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to replace flares at three of its oil and gas gathering centres (GCs), according to industry sources.

A total of 11 contractors submitted bids for the project.

The project involves the replacement of flare stacks at GC-15, GC-23 and GC-25.

The existing flare stacks will be replaced by units with a lower environmental impact, according to documents published by KOC.

The project was first tendered in July 2021 and saw extensive delays before bids were submitted.

Bids were submitted by:

• Nasser Mohammed al-Baddah & Partner General Trading & Contracting Company (Kuwait)
• Heavy Engineering Industries & Shipbuilding Company (Kuwait)
• Al-Meer Technical Services Company (Kuwait)
• Mechanical Engineering & Contracting Company (Kuwait)
• Gulf Spic General Trading & Contracting Company (Kuwait)
• Spetco International Petroleum Company (Kuwait)
• Al-Dar Engineering & Construction Company (Saudi Arabia)
• Zenith Group Company for Drilling & Maintenance of Oil Wells (Kuwait)
• Al-Ghanim International General Trading & Contracting Company (Kuwait)
• Finesco International General Trading & Contracting Company (Kuwait)
• Integral Services Company for Mechanical Contracting & Precision Instruments (Kuwait)

In the Middle East and North Africa region, many oil fields and downstream facilities routinely burn off associated natural gas instead of collecting and processing it to be used as a fuel or feedstock for petrochemicals facilities.

This practice, known as flaring, causes environmental damage and has negative health implications for nearby communities.

If the gas is released without burning, it can cause even more environmental damage.

In January, KOC said that its monitoring systems failed to register a three-week gas leak observed by satellite last year, exacerbating concerns that greenhouse gas emissions are underreported worldwide.

When methane is emitted directly into the air, it has more than 80 times the heat-trapping capacity of carbon dioxide during its first 20 years.

The leak identified by satellite was from facilities associated with Kuwait’s Burgan oil field.

The national oil company Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is listed among 30 fossil fuel companies responsible for more than 40 per cent of the methane discharged by the world’s energy sector, according to a report published in November by Global Energy Monitor.