Netherland’s’ Van Oord, a leading international contractor specializing in dredging, marine engineering and offshore projects, has successfully executed ground improvement for the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC). The project, which commenced in 2014, included reclaiming 65mcm of sand and extensive soil improvement to be used in constructing Al-Zour refinery, the largest oil refining plant in the Middle East, reported Your Oil & Gas News.

Upon completion, Al-Zour refinery will produce 615,000b/d and has a strategic goal of supplying low-sulphur fuel. The refinery will be constructed on the reclaimed land in the sabkha area, a salt plain near the coast, 30km north of the Saudi border, according to Hellenic Shipping News.

Van Oord continues to work for KNPC in Kuwait on a project to reclaim land for the construction of a port and the first phase of an LNG import facility.