600 new jobs for Kuwaitis, 615,000 bpd oil to be processed
Kuwait City - The world's largest grassroot refinery which will be established in Al-Zour area will help create over 600 job opportunities for Kuwaitis and will be operational by 2010, says Ahmad S. Al-Jemaz, Manager of KNPC New Refinery Project. Speaking at a press conference Wednesday at the KNPC headquarters, he said the total cost of the new refinery will be $ 6.3 billion and that it will be carried out in three phases. "We want to highlight the significance of this project and create an awareness among Kuwaiti contractors. The project recently approved by the Higher Petroleum Council is also important for Kuwait from the economic perspective." The meeting was also attended by Bader Al-Sumait, KNPC Planning Manager, Bedah Al-Hajeri, PR Manager and Harem Al-Awadi, EMAD Project.
Accordance
"International contractors will work in tandem with the local counterparts in accordance with the government regulations. The local contractors' participation ratio in the project will be between 10-20 per cent. The maximum capacity of the crude intake of the refinery is 615,000 barrels per day." "We have not finished the pre-qualification exercise yet, we are going to close the door by Aug 8. We have special committee dealing with the pre-qualification exercise. Hopefully by October we will issue the list of the qualified EPC (Engineering Procuring Construction) contractors." He said a team led by KNPC chairman will visit the top EPC contractors in Asia and Europe to seek their firm commitment as well as to gauge their willingness to carry out the project. "So far we have got a favorable response but we feel that we need to interact with them on a personal level to speed up the process."
He said the new refinery will meet the requirements of the heavy crude oil in addition to producing very light oil products. "Some of the equipment required for the refinery is very sophisticated and will take a lot of time for fabrication - the reactors will take three years. So we went for direct procurement and did not wait for the EPC contractors." He said the tendering process will end in October 2005, adding a website has been launched to apprise international companies of the mechanics of the project. He stressed that the refinery will be built as per the strictest environmental regulation, adding "We offer clean fuel to the power plant so the emission from the power plant will be reduced by seventy per cent." "International contractors will be responsible for the engineering pattern of the refinery while the local contractors will focus on the construction aspect."
KUNA adds: Based in the southern area of Al-Zour, the refinery will convert Kuwaiti heavy oil into kerosene, diesel and other easy-to-market petrochemicals. The refinery would also provide Kuwait's power generating plants with low-sulfur fuel and will create some 600 job opportunities for native jobseekers. It is designed, he added to be environment-friendly and the project execution period is up to 66 months. Kuwait has stipulated on international contractors, he said, to hire local subcontractors to execute the project works.
By Francis A. Clifford Cardozo
© Arab Times 2005
