KUWAIT CITY: Construction of the liquefied gas plant in northern Kuwait has cost up to KD 54 million (about USD 179.4 million), the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) confirmed here the other day. The KOTC, in a statement, said the establishment of the plant, in Umm Al-Aish, cost KD 54 million, noting that it was inaugurated nearly two weeks ago.
The plant, built on a 150,000-sq-m plot of land, has a productivity capacity of 15 million cylinders per year, 160 percent of the output capacity of the old plant in Al-Shuaiba. The KOTC, in late 2010, signed a KD 54.6 million contract with the South Korean Hanhwa Corporation to design and build the plant, with aim of meeting mounting domestic demand for gas, in light of population growth.
Since then, a team of top-notch Kuwaiti engineers had sought to acquire state-of-art technology and equipment to build the plant with high engineering specifications, including strategic reserve tanks, production lines, administrative buildings and a transport fleet. With launch of the new plant, Kuwait will meet the local needs for gas till 2030, it said, also indicating that stored gas would be kept under the ground — the safest method for storing gas. The plant includes six underground tanks, storing capacity of each amounts to 2,350 cubic meters.
