meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Kuwait engages firms for new Dorra gas processing plant

23 July 2025

 

Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

With inputs from Indrajit Sen

Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC), a subsidiary of state energy conglomerate Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), has set in motion a project to develop an onshore gas processing plant that will receive gas feedstock from the Dorra offshore gas field located in the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone.

KGOC has started an early engagement process with contractors for the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) tendering exercise for the Dorra onshore gas processing facility, which is to be located in Kuwait, according to sources.

France-based Technip Energies is performing front-end engineering and design (feed) on the project, and is expected to complete the work by the end of the year, sources told MEED.

Based on the progress of the feed work, KGOC is expected to issue the main EPC tender for the Dorra onshore gas processing facility in September, as per sources.

The proposed facility will receive gas via a pipeline from the Dorra offshore field, which is being developed in a separate project by Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) – a joint venture of KGOC and Saudi Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Company (AGOC).

ALSO READ: Arabian Drilling wins contract extension from KJO

The planned KGOC facility will have the capacity to process up to 632 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas and 88.9 million barrels a day of condensates from the Dorra field.

The KGOC onshore gas processing facility will be located in the vicinity of the Al-Zour refinery, owned by KPC subsidiary, Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (Kipic).

A 700,000 square-metre plot has been allocated next to the Al-Zour refinery for the gas processing facility and discussions about survey work are ongoing. The site will potentially need to be shored, backfilled and dewatered.

Shoring involves installing supporting infrastructure that prevents oil from collapsing or shifting. Backfilling involves filling any holes or voids on the site to provide stability to the area, and dewatering is the process of removing excess water from the site.

The planned onshore gas processing plant will also supply surplus gas to KPC’s upstream business Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) for possible injection into its oil fields.

Additionally, KGOC plans to award licensed technology contracts to US-based Honeywell UOP and Shell subsidiary Shell Catalysts & Technologies for the gas processing plant’s acid gas removal unit and sulphur recovery unit, respectively.

Dorra offshore gas field

The Dorra gas field, located in Gulf waters of the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone, is estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic metres of gas and 310 million barrels of oil.

MEED reported in September 2023 that Aramco and KPC had selected Technip Energies to carry out pre-feed and feed work on the Dorra offshore field development project.

The original feed work for a project to develop the field was performed more than a decade ago. However, due to changes in technology, the engineering design needed to be updated before the project could reach a final investment decision.

KJO is understood to have issued the tenders for the Dorra offshore field development project in August last year. It has divided the scope of work on the Dorra gas field development project, which is estimated to be valued at up to $10bn, into four EPC packages – three offshore and one onshore.

The EPC scope of work on the Dorra gas field development project packages and their bid submission deadlines are as follows:

  • Package 1: Seven offshore jackets and laying of intra-field lines – bids submitted on 2 June
  • Package 2A: Seven production deck modules and associated corrosion-resistant, alloy-lined pipes connecting to the gas compression plant – 31 July
  • Package 2B: Compression and auxiliary platforms, an accommodation platform, associated trunklines and cables connecting to the shoreline – 31 July
  • Package 3: Onshore gas processing plant – 31 July

The following contractors are understood to be among those bidding for the three offshore packages:

  • Lamprell (Saudi Arabia/UAE)
  • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
  • McDermott (US)
  • NMDC Energy (UAE)
  • Saipem (Italy)

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have been collaborating to develop the offshore field since its discovery in 1965. The two sides expect to produce about 1 billion cubic feet a day of gas from the asset and have agreed to split the gas output equally.

A geopolitical tussle over ownership of the asset has hampered progress.

Iran, which calls the field Arash, claims that it partially extends into its territory and that Tehran should be a stakeholder in any development project. 

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia maintain that the Dorra field lies entirely in the waters of their shared territory, known as the Neutral Zone or Divided Zone, and that Iran has no legal basis for its claim. 

In February 2024, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia reiterated their claim over the Dorra field in a joint statement issued during an official meeting between Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud in Riyadh.

READ THE JULY 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

UAE and Turkiye expand business links; Renewed hope lies on the horizon for trouble-beset Levant region; Gulf real estate momentum continues even as concerns emerge

Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the July 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

> PROJECTS MARKET: GCC projects market collapses
> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects index continues climb
To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14286249/main0643.jpg
Wil Crisp

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Kuwait on track to hit oil production target

    7 October 2026

    Kuwait is on track to meet its target of having 4 million barrels a day (b/d) of oil production capacity by 2035, according to Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) chief executive Shaikh Nawaf Al-Sabah.

    Al-Sabah also said Kuwait is on course to increase non-associated gas production to 2 billion cubic feet a day by 2040.

    His comments come amid an ongoing crisis in Kuwait’s oil and gas sector linked to the regional conflict that began when the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.

    The subsequent war has significantly disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which is a crucial export route for Kuwaiti crude oil.

    Kuwait is currently producing around 2 million b/d of oil, down from 2.6 million b/d before the US and Israel attack.

    Speaking at a conference in London, Al-Sabah said: “We have the capacity to go back up to our current maximum sustainable capacity of 3 million b/d, if we have the export routes available, and this comes down to the ability to move oil through the Strait.”

    KPC is investing $9bn-$10bn a year in capital expenditure to meet its oil and gas production goals, according to Al-Sabah.

    He said: “We are doing this because we recognise that it is our hydrocarbons that will be most in demand a decade from now, and two decades from now – in fact, for the rest of our lifetimes.”

    Project Seef

    KPC is pushing ahead with the Al-Seef project, which focuses on developing three large offshore oil discoveries, Al-Sabah said.

    The offshore fields are known as Nokhatha, Julaia and Jazza. The development was first announced in February this year, about two weeks before the US and Israel attack on Iran.

    Al-Sabah said KPC is continuing with the project and believes the three fields collectively hold more than 3 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

    He said: “We are asking international oil companies to partner with us to develop those resources under an operating services contract.

    “So, we’re moving ahead according to the exact same schedule that we had put together even before the war began.”

    Al-Sabah did not say which international oil companies KPC has approached to help develop the three offshore fields.

    READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Industry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20315147/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Al-Yamamah signs Saudi 380kV transmission deals

    6 October 2026

    Riyadh-headquartered Al-Yamamah Steel Industries has signed two supply contracts with Algihaz Contracting Company for the construction of 380kV ultra-high-voltage transmission lines in Saudi Arabia’s Western Region.

    The contracts cover the supply of steel towers and are worth a combined SR254.28m ($67.8m).

    In a disclosure to the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul), the firm said the first contract is valued at SR135.65m ($36.2m), while the second is worth SR118.63m ($31.6m).

    Both contracts have a one-year duration, with supply scheduled to begin in March 2027. The financial impact of the contracts is expected to start appearing in Al-Yamamah Steel’s results in the first quarter of 2027. 

    Algihaz is currently carrying out construction works for several transmission projects, including Saudi Energy’s $206m Bisha 380/132kV BSP connection project, for which it was appointed the main contractor in 2025.

    The project involves a double-circuit 380kV overhead transmission line connecting the Bisha PV bulk supply point to the existing bulk supply points in Aseer Province.

    The deals also add to a series of steel tower contracts secured by Al-Yamamah Steel for 380kV transmission projects in the Western Region.

    In September, the company signed a SR103.14m ($27.5m) contract with the Saudi branch of National Power Construction Corporation to supply steel towers for a 380kV ultra-high-voltage line. Supply under that contract is due to begin in February 2027. 

    Al-Yamamah Steel also signed a SR176.48m ($47.1m) contract in November 2025 with Arabian Electrical Transmission Line Construction Company to supply steel towers for another 380kV ultra-high-voltage line in the Western Region. 

    The company has expanded its tower production capacity in recent years to meet expected demand for steel towers used in electricity transmission lines. Its 2024 annual report said it had added production lines and a galvanising plant in Jeddah Industrial City for this purpose. 

    READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Industry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20308551/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Eagle Hills plans new Syria projects

    6 October 2026

    Abu Dhabi-based real estate developer Eagle Hills has signed a framework agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Public Works & Housing to develop a series of residential and tourism community projects across several Syrian governorates.

    The first phase will include Damascus Heights in the capital and Latakia Yachts & Marina on the Mediterranean coast.

    Damascus Heights is planned as a mixed-use community comprising homes, retail, hospitality and business facilities, supported by schools, healthcare services, green areas and resident amenities.

    Latakia Yachts & Marina is planned as a waterfront destination anchored by a marina, with homes, hotels, branded residences and leisure offerings.

    During development and operation, the projects are expected to support economic activity and tourism, create jobs across construction, hospitality and services, and add new housing, community facilities and tourism infrastructure.

    Syrian professionals and businesses are expected to play a central role in both delivery and operations, creating opportunities for contractors, suppliers and service providers, strengthening local supply chains and SMEs, and supporting skills development and knowledge transfer.

    Eagle Hills is also inviting applications for investment participation from Syrians in Syria and abroad, with priority for qualified Syrian individuals, businesses and institutions. 

    Following the signing, both projects will proceed to implementation, with enabling and construction works expected to begin shortly in Damascus and Latakia.

    READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Industry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20308460/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Contractors submit revised bids for Dukhan field facilities upgrade

    6 October 2026

     

    Contractors have submitted revised proposals to QatarEnergy for a key tender to upgrade facilities at the Dukhan oil field in Qatar, about 80 kilometres west of Doha.

    Following the submission of the initial round of bids for the project on 9 August, QatarEnergy requested revised proposals from contractors, which they submitted by 27 September, sources told MEED.

    The following local contractors, among others, are understood to be bidding for the DPFU Phase 1B (Part 2) tender, according to information obtained by MEED Projects:

    • Doha Petroleum Construction Company (Dopet)
    • Galfar Al-Misnad Engineering & Contracting
    • Qatar Engineering & Construction Company (Q-con)

    QatarEnergy originally stipulated a bond validity of 150 days (until 23 December) and a bid validity of 120 days (until 23 November) for the project.

    The engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning scope covers upgrades to 56 oil manifolds, 108 gas-lift manifold slots, chemical injection systems and key pumping facilities, along with associated piping, instrumentation, control, electrical and civil works.

    The scope includes the demolition of obsolete equipment, degassing station enhancements, and full testing and handover. It also encompasses additional capacity enhancement works under Part 3, mainly the installation of new oil export and produced-water transfer pumps, along with supporting facility modifications.

    The project involves complex interfaces and shutdown-critical activities, requiring expertise in live-plant integration.

    QatarEnergy issued the tender for the DPFU Phase 1B (Part 2) project on 8 June and initially set a bid submission deadline of 26 July, later extending it to 9 August.

    Dukhan, Qatar’s first and only onshore oil field, was discovered in 1938, with oil production starting in 1939-40. The country currently produces about 1.8 million barrels a day (b/d) of crude, with the Dukhan field accounting for about 350,000 b/d.

    The Dukhan oil field covers about 80km by 8km and consists of four reservoirs: Khatiyah, Fahahil, Jaleha and Diyab. The first three are oil reservoirs. The more recently developed Diyab reservoir contains non-associated gas and is estimated to hold around 2 billion barrels of crude oil reserves. Diyab lies on Dukhan’s southern flank.

    ALSO READ: QatarEnergy selects contractors for offshore oil field expansion
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20306273/main5440.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Dubai issues PMC tender for four stormwater projects

    6 October 2026

     

    Dubai Municipality has invited consultants to bid for a contract to provide construction supervision services for four stormwater projects.

    The bid submission deadline is 29 October.

    All four projects are part of the municipality’s Tasreef programme, intended to increase Dubai’s rainwater drainage capacity by 700% by 2033 and provide capacity for the emirate’s needs for the next 100 years.

    The tender for TF-06-S1 Supervision of Stormwater Drainage System Projects – Package 4 was issued on 6 October.

    The consultancy covers the following projects:

    • TF-06-C1: Construction of a stormwater pond connecting Al-Maktoum Airport and Dubai South
    • TF-06-C2: Construction of a stormwater drainage system connecting Al-Maktoum Airport and Dubai South
    • TF-07-C1: Construction of a stormwater drainage system on Sheikh Zayed Bin Hamdan Road connecting developers
    • TF-24-C1: Connecting developers’ areas to the stormwater networks in Dubailand 

    In documents seen by MEED, the municipality said it will require a dedicated supervision team for each project.

    The consultancy will cover construction supervision, including the deployment of resident engineers, civil engineers, inspectors, quantity surveyors, land surveyors and planning engineers. Mechanical engineers will also be required, along with health and safety personnel and NOC engineers, depending on the project. 

    TF-07-C1 is the same strategic stormwater drainage project that Dubai Municipality recently tendered for construction, with contractors preparing to submit bids on 22 October.

    The project covers more than 100 million square metres between Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road and Emirates Road, and from Expo Road to Dubailand.

    It will provide stormwater infrastructure and service connections for more than 20 private developers and Al-Yalayis 5, as well as supporting major roads in the Jebel Ali area. The construction scope includes a major gravity drainage system with pipeline diameters of up to 3,000mm.

    TF-24-C1 is one of three water infrastructure tenders issued by the municipality in August, as reported by MEED. The project will connect developers’ areas in Dubailand to the stormwater network. It includes 18 kilometres (km) of stormwater drainage pipelines with diameters of up to 1,800mm and 3.5km of gravity sewer pipelines with diameters of up to 1,000mm.

    Bidding for the engineering, procurement and construction contract was recently extended to 1 October, with Nael Construction & Contracting and Al-Nasr Contracting Company among those expected to make an offer for the project.

    READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Industry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20305174/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall