Kuwait delays new refinery tender awards to March

KUWAIT, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Kuwait has delayed the award of construction contracts for the largest oil refinery in the Middle East until March, a Kuwait official said on Monday.

The Gulf Arab state has already delayed the start up date for the 615,000 barrels per day (bpd) al-Zour refinery by more than a year after spiralling costs forced the government to double the estimated budget for the project to $14 billion.

"The award will be next month," Ahmad al-Jemaz, deputy managing director of the country's Shuaiba refinery told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

He declined to say why it was delayed, nor to give any details on which companies would win. The plant was due to come online in March 2012, Jemaz said.

The project is split into five packages, which state refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC) had previously said it would award in mid-February.

South Korean firm SK Engineering & Construction (096770.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) and JGC Corp (1963.T: Quote, Profile, Research) were among the frontrunners, according to the London-based Middle East Economic Digest.

More than 10 firms are bidding for the plant, among them Italian, French, and U.S. companies

The refinery is part of plans by the world's seventh-largest oil exporter to boost refining capacity to 1.415 million bpd from 930,000 bpd now.

Kuwait is also building a new gas plant at the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery with capacity to process around 805 million cubic feet per day of gas. The plant is due to start up in April 2010, Jemaz said.