At least three companies attended the pre-tender meeting and are believed to be preparing bids for a planned oil project in Kuwait expected to be worth about KD207m ($673m).The project, which has contract number EF 2059, is focused on installing a separation gathering centre known as SGC-II in the eastern region of Kuwait – referred to as EK-II.The scope of the project, which has been tendered by Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), also includes crude debottlenecking work.A pre-tender meeting for this project took place on 30 July, and the bid submission deadline has been set for 29 September 2024.The three companies that attended the meeting and are believed to be preparing bids are:Larsen & Toubro (India)Samsung Engineering (South Korea)GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)The full list of companies that prequalified to bid on the contract is:Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company (South Korea)Samsung Engineering (South Korea)Saipem (Italy)Sinopec Luoyang Engineering Company (China)Sinopec Engineering Incorporation (China)Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)Larsen & Toubro (India)Daewoo Engineering & Construction (South Korea)Petrofac International (UK)GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)It is not known why many of the companies that prequalified did not attend the pre-tender meeting.Companies that did not attend the meeting included Sinopec, Tecnicas Reunidas, Petrofac and Saipem.Sources said that, at this stage, they did not expect Petrofac and Saipem to submit bids for the project; however, they believed it was still possible that Sinopec and Tecnicas Reunidas would participate in the tender.The scope of the project includes:Construction of gas networkConstruction of oil-water separation unitConstruction of dehydration and desalting unitConstruction of tank gas compression and gas handling unitConstruction of crude oil storage and transfer unitConstruction of effluent water treatment and handling unitConstruction of associated facilitiesThe low turnout at the pre-tender meeting has sparked internal discussions at KOC about whether the bid submission date should be extended in order to garner more interest among contractors, according to industry sources.One source said: “Some contractors are still not too interested in the upcoming wave of new tenders in Kuwait.“They are not ready for the Kuwait market yet. They are waiting to see what happens and don’t want to waste their time.”In December last year, Kuwait’s Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah became emir, taking over from his half-brother Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.Since becoming emir, he has sought to promote the idea that he is setting the country on a path towards political stability and economic development.In recent years, the biggest factor holding back project activity in the country has been a persistent conflict between the opposition-dominated parliament and appointed cabinet.On 10 May, Sheikh Mishal suspended parliament for a period that could extend for four years in an effort to end the conflict and allow decisions and reforms to be made.It is hoped that the suspension of parliament will make it easier for large infrastructure projects to be approved and make progress. (ICE KUWAIT)

Fonte notizia: Meed