DUBAI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Kuwait's National Petroleum Company (KNPC) said on Sunday it will set up a new company to run its planned al-Zour refinery and petrochemical complex which, when built, will be the biggest in the Middle East.

The new company, KBRC, will also manage a planned permanent liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, said KNPC Chief Executive Mohammed al-Mutairi, according to comments on state news agency KUNA.

He said that setting up KBRC would allow the independent management of the projects under one structure.

Mutairi told Reuters in October that commissioning of the 615,000 barrel per day refinery was expected to start in November 2019. Contracts to build the 3 billion cubic feet per day LNG import terminal were expected to be awarded early this year.

(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Andrew Bolton) ((sylvia.westall@thomsonreuters.com; Dubai Newsroom +971 56 216 6204; Reuters Messaging: sylvia.westall.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))