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Kuwait upstream project to be completed in 2027

21 November 2025

 

State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is expecting its project to install depletion compression systems and sulphur recovery units (SRUs) to be completed in the middle of 2027, according to industry sources.

KOC signed a contract with Kuwait-based engineering contractor Spetco earlier this year, and construction work is currently ongoing.

In November last year, Spetco submitted a bid of KD126.5m ($412m), beating bids from companies based in China, Saudi Arabia and India.

The project involves installing new units at the facilities known as Early Production Facility 50 (EPF-50) and Jurassic Production Facility 3 (JPF-3).

Tender documents were originally made available on 17 September 2023, with a bid deadline of 17 December that year.

Due to scope changes, the deadline was extended several times before bids were ultimately submitted ahead of a 15 October 2024 deadline.

Scope changes

In August last year, MEED reported that the estimated budget for the project had been increased from about $380m to approximately $460m due to scope changes.

The project uses the build-own-operate-transfer contract model.

EPF-50 and JPF-3 are sour hydrocarbons processing and handling facilities located in North Kuwait, designed to handle high-pressure (HP) sour hydrocarbons from several Jurassic wells in North Kuwait fields.

The project was launched to sustain production from the facilities by installing compression systems and SRUs.

Boosting compression

The contract’s original scope of work was divided into two parts, according to the tender documents that were released in September 2023.

The first part focused on installing a new medium-pressure (MP) compression system and SRU at EPF-50.

The second part focused on installing a new MP compression system and SRU at JPF-3.

The EPF-50 and JPF-3 facilities receive sour wet hydrocarbons reservoir fluids through flowline gathering networks and trunk lines.

Crude, gas and water are separated in a separation section that is currently receiving well fluid at 1,100 pounds a square inch gauge (psig), and the crude is stabilised for export after desalting.

The separation section consists of HP, MP and low-pressure (LP) separators in series. MP and LP gases are compressed to HP and combined with gas from HP separators.

The gas is then treated in gas sweetening and dehydration units before being exported via pipeline.

As the well fluid pressure depletes to MP, the combined feed from the inlet production headers and test header will be routed through a crude pre-heater to the new MP separator, which operates at about 425-450 psig.

The new compressors will compress the gas from MP to HP.

The EPF-50 facility can currently process 200 million standard cubic feet a day (scf/d) of gas, 50,000 barrels a day (b/d) of oil and 130 tonnes a day (t/d) of sulphur.

Originally, the upgrade project was expected to increase the volume of sulphur it can process to 270-310 t/d, but after the proposed changes to the scope, the capacity is now likely to be larger.

The JPF-3 facility can currently process 150 million scf/d of gas, 50,000 b/d of oil and 200 t/d of sulphur.

Originally, the planned upgrade was expected to increase the volume of gas that the facility can process to 240 million scf/d and the volume of sulphur to 440 t/d.

Due to the scope changes, the capacity of JPF-3 will now be increased by more than the volumes outlined in the original tender documents.

It is currently unclear by how much the capacities of EPF-50 and JPF-3 will increase under the new project scope.

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Wil Crisp

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