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Kuwait doubles budget to $12b for building fourth oil refinery

KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait has doubled its budget for building the country’s fourth oil refinery, earmarking US$12 billion (euro 8.81 billion) for the project, a senior oil official said on Tuesday.

Sami Al Rsheid, the chief executive officer of the state-owned Kuwait National Petroleum Co., said the decision was made Monday and still needs the approval of the Supreme Petroleum Council, the country’s highest oil authority, according to the Kuwait News Agency.

KNPC had earmarked US$6.3 billion (Ð4.63 billion) for the new refinery, but bids from international companies interested in building the facility were much higher.

Al Rsheid said his company would call for bids in July, and the installation would be built by 2011 instead of 2010 as originally planned.

The refinery with a capacity of 615,000 barrels a day would mainly produce environment friendly fuel for the country’s electrical power and water desalination plants, according to the state-owned news agency.

KNPC owns and runs three refineries - Shuaiba, Mina aAl Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah - with a total capacity of 930,000 barrels a day.