Contract for wells flow lines project increases by 6 times

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 18: Oil sources expressed their astonishment at the unprecedented facilities provided by the Kuwait Oil Company and its approval of the change orders that exceed the agreed scope in the group of projects to establish the flow lines of producing wells in the northern Kuwait region, pointing out that this trend may be tainted by damage to public money, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The sources said that the main contract for the wells flow lines project was increased 6 times, under the pretext of emergency conditions and the operational need to complete the work until the new tender was floated, which was delayed for more than a year and a half.

Justification

The same sources explained that as a result of the delay in tendering and the justification that the reasons behind this delay are due to the length of the procedures followed in the Central Tenders Committee, tenders with a value of less than 5 million dinars were issued for approval by the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and to avoid being approved by the Central Tenders Committee in order to expedite the procedures.

The sources added, after the tenders were floated, two contracts were awarded in northern Kuwait to one contractor, but it is surprising that after the signing of the two contracts and before starting the work, the value of these contracts was increased through change orders, which was almost 100% of the value of each contract, under the pretext of work pressure and the desire to increase production.

The sources indicated that a change order No. 7 was signed for the main contract, arguing that the signed contracts are insufficient and do not cover the operational demands of the wells.

Binding

The sources also indicated that after the signing of this change order, most of the work assigned to the two contracts signed previously and most of the materials related to them that were supplied by the Kuwait Oil Company for these contracts were transferred and given to the contractor to work in the change order No. 7, although the contractor’s contract is binding according to the contract to supply and install all the required materials and their installation there is no need to be supplied with materials by the Kuwait Oil Company.

The sources inquired about the mechanism by which the Change Order No. 7 was approved, and whether it was issued based on inaccurate information that was provided.