KUWAIT CITY, July 18: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and its subsidiaries have started to cancel a large number of unimportant tenders and contracts within the budget of the current fiscal year, in implementation of the decisions to apply austerity and reduce expenses disclosed by the CEO of KPC Hashem Al-Hashem.

They revealed that these decisions also include ending the services of non-Kuwaitis under permanent and private contracts as well as subcontractors, adding that this move is aimed to cut spending in conjunction with the sharp decline in oil revenues and to counter the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sources explained that KOC canceled the Ahmadi City buildings project, considering it as a non-strategic project. It also canceled a contract for the supply of connections to the wells, given the high costs, and it is considering re-offering it again. Some other projects have also been canceled, but the details will be revealed later.

Also, the Dabdaba solar energy project, which is worth KD 551 million, was recently canceled too.

Meanwhile, the Petrochemical Industries Company canceled the contracts for the annual meeting of the leaders of the oil sector, the service for booking travel tickets and hotels, the work of mobile equipment rental for the polypropylene plant, electrical maintenance and precision machinery for the factory in addition to a number of other contracts reports Al Anba. On the other hand, the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) decided to extend the bids of two huge contracts with the Central Agency for Public Tenders.

The first contract is aimed for obtaining engineering consultancy services for projects and administrative services. The project has been extended to November 10, 2020 with the date of the preparatory meeting set to be on September 13, 2020. As for the second contract which is aimed for maintenance operations at the LNG import facility, its financial offers have been extended to September 6. The preliminary meeting was held on November 10, 2019.