Saudi Arabia has extended the final date for the submission of bids to construct a crude oil refinery with capacity of about 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 7 November 2009.
The tender for the Jizan plant, which has been postponed many times, was initially planned for bidding in 2007, Reuters reported.
The extension will not affect the ministry’s plans to award the contract as scheduled.
Earlier in 2009, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said that it planned to award a contract for building the refinery by the end of November 2009 based on a bidding process set for 2 September 2009.
The Jizan refinery, which will have a capacity to process oil between 250,000 and 400,000bpd, is part of a wider plan to develop the poor southern region near the border with Yemen.
The country plans to refurbish and develop its refining operations at home and overseas.
It predicts that domestic refining capacity will rise by more than 1.7 million bpd by 2015 from the present level of 2.1 million bpd.
Earlier in 2008, 43 international companies and eight Saudi companies including Saudi Arabian Oil Company, had been pre-qualified for the tender.
