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Deadlines extended for Kuwait oil projects worth $2.5bn

30 July 2025

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Kuwait’s state-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has extended bid deadlines for six vital oil projects, which are estimated to be worth a total of $2.5bn.

The first contract, estimated to be worth KD292m ($951m), is focused on developing a separation facility in the NK SA/BA Area, close to Gathering Centre 23 (GC-23) and GC-24.

The scope of the contract also includes a new injection facility at GC-31 and effluent water injection networks in north Kuwait. The project’s latest bid deadline has been set for 5 August.

The second contract is to develop the planned Mutriba remote boosting facility in northwest Kuwait. It was originally tendered earlier this year with a bid submission deadline of 29 June. The deadline has now been extended to 17 August.

The project has an estimated budget of about KD130m ($420m) and its scope includes:

  • Development of the Mutriba oil field
  • Installation of the degassing station
  • Installation of manifolds
  • Installation of condensate facilities
  • Installation of wellhead separation units
  • Installation of the pumping system
  • Installation of wellhead facilities
  • Installation of oil and gas treatment plants
  • Installation of a natural gas liquids plant
  • Installation of a water and gas injection plant
  • Construction of associated utilities and facilities

The onshore Mutriba oil field is located in northwest Kuwait.

In October 2024, KOC announced that it was preparing to tender a project management contract for a scheme to develop the field.

At the time, it said four international companies had been invited to participate in the tender process. These were:

  • Schlumberger (US)
  • Halliburton (US)
  • Baker Hughes (US)
  • Weatherford International (US)

KOC also said that the list of qualified companies could be extended before the invitation to bid was issued.

The third project, estimated to be worth $100m, is for an effluent water injection network in north Kuwait. The bid deadline has been extended to 5 August.

Effluent water injection or water flooding is a secondary hydrocarbons recovery technique where produced water is injected into a well’s formation under high pressure and temperature conditions to recover more of the oil initially in place.

The fourth project is estimated to be worth around $100m and is focused on the construction of a new injection network in north Kuwait that will service the Sabriyah/Bahra (SA/BA) area. Its bid deadline has also been extended to 5 August.

The fifth project that has had its deadline extended is focused on developing Jurassic Light Oil (JLO) export facilities and upgrading the existing export network.

The main contract bid submission date for the project, which is understood to have a budget of KD175m ($569m), has been changed to 3 August.

The project was originally tendered in November last year with a bid deadline of 1 December 2024. Other recent deadlines have included 15 July, 24 June, 27 May, 27 April and 6 April.

In an announcement in April last year, KOC prequalified up to 15 contractors to bid for these projects:

  • CTCI (Taiwan)
  • Daewoo Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
  • Fluor (US)
  • Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
  • Hyundai Engineering Company (South Korea)
  • Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)
  • JGC Corporation (Japan)
  • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
  • NMDC Energy (UAE)
  • Petrofac (UK)
  • Saipem (Italy)
  • Samsung E&A (South Korea)
  • Sinopec Engineering Corporation (China)
  • Sinopec Luoyang Engineering Company (China)
  • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)

In September 2024, KOC announced a second list of 13 prequalified contractors, with Hyundai Heavy Industries and NMDC Energy removed from the list.

At the time, KOC said that companies not included on the list could file a complaint against their non-inclusion before the official invitation to bid on the project.

It is unclear whether more prequalified companies have been added or removed from the list since September.

The sixth project that has seen its bid deadline extended is focused on developing separation facilities at GC-25 and a water injection facility at GC-30.

The contract is estimated to be worth KD104m ($338m). In the latest extension, the bid deadline has been set for 10 August.

Kuwait is in the middle of an upstream projects push, in line with its goal of producing 4 million barrels a day of oil by 2035.

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Wil Crisp

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