The addition of the two companies brings to 18 the total number of international contractors able to bid for the lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction contract, which has an estimated value of more than $200m. The bid deadline is 14 May (MEED 17:2:08).

The contract involves the installation of a 40-inch-diameter gas pipeline between gas booster station 131, in the far north, and the state's fourth gas fractionation plant at the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery. The length of the pipeline will be at least 150 kilometres.

The pipeline will transport gas from the Ratqa early production facilities (EPF) scheme, which will produce 120,000 barrels a day of wet sour crude and more than 80 million cubic feet a day of liquefied petroleum gas from the Ratqa and Abdali fields, when it is commissioned in 2010.