Bahrain Mirror-Reuters: State-run Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) has received bids from international construction companies to expand its Sitra oil refinery, industry sources said.

It aims to boost the processing capacity of the Gulf country's only oil refinery to 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 267,000 bpd under its BAPCO Modernisation Program (BMP) which is expected to cost about $5 billion.

Companies that submitted bids and that have formed consortia are:

- Japan's JGC Corp and South Korea's GS

- Technip, Tecnicas Reunidas and Samsung Engineering

- Fluor < FLR.N>, Hyundai Engineering and Construction and Daewoo Engineering and Construction

- CB&I, Petrofac and Japan's Mitsui and Co.

Bidding had been expected to close in October, however it was extended due to the scale of the project.

The contract is expected to be awarded by the first quarter of 2017, sources have said.

Bapco did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

A Mitsui spokesman in Tokyo confirmed that the Japanese trading house, together with CB&I and Petrofac, submitted a bid for the expansion project on Dec. 7.

GS said it submitted a bid as part of a consortium.

Samsung Engineering also said it bid in a joint venture with Technip and Tecnicas Reunidas.

Hyundai E&C and Daewoo E&C told Reuters separately they had bid in a joint venture with Fluor.

Petrofac, JGC and Tecnicas Reunidas declined to comment.

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