KUWAIT National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has awarded a $12-billion project to British, US and Japanese-led consortia to boost capacity at key oil refineries in Kuwait and make production more environment friendly.

Work on the three-part Clean Fuels Project (CFP) for KNPC to upgrade refineries while reducing sulphur and carbon pollutants is expected to start next month (April) and be completed in five years.

The Mina Abdullah One project was awarded to a consortium led by Britain’s Petrofac at $3.8 billion, Mina Abdullah Two to US Fluor-led consortium for $3.4 billion, while Mina Al Ahmadi went to Japan’s JGC Corp-led consortium for $4.8 billion, KNPC spokesman Khaled Al Assousi said.

The consortium led by JGC also includes South Korean firms GS E&C and SK Engineering and Construction Company (SK E&C), with all three partners having equal stake in the work. GS is to handle the hydrogen production unit and gas oil desulphurisation, while SK is to build the sulphur recovery unit and the delayed coking unit.

As a member of the consortium led by Petrofac involved on Mina Abdullah One, CB&I will undertake the engineering and procurement for two atmospheric residue desulphurisation units, which were previously licensed by Chevron Lummus Global, a joint venture between CB&I and Chevron. CB&I’s share in the contract is worth $370 million.  The third partner in the venture is Samsung Engineering Company.

The current production capacity of the two refineries of Mina Al Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah is around 730,000 barrels per day (bpd), while the capacity of Kuwait’s third refinery at Shuaiba is 200,000 bpd. At the end of the projects, the capacity of the two refineries will be raised to 800,000 bpd, while Kuwait plans to shut the third refinery.