KUWAIT’S delayed refinery and clean fuel projects are now poised to move ahead following the award of consultancy contracts to British engineering company Amec and US-based Foster Wheeler, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported.

The KD4-billion ($14.2 billion) Al Zour project aims to build the Mideast’s largest oil refinery while the $4.6-billion clean fuel project plans to upgrade and boost capacity at existing facilities, Al-Rai reported. Both have faced delays due to political instability.

State-owned Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), which is running the two projects, is working on a list of contractors and will award further tenders in the first few months of 2013, Al-Rai reported. Korean, US and Italian companies are also showing interest, according to the newspaper.

The Al-Zour project, originally planned a decade ago, aims to provide fuel for power generation and water desalination facilities and will allow Kuwait, one of the world’s biggest oil producers, to export any excess. If it goes ahead, the refinery would process 615,000 barrels per day (bpd), coming online in 2018.