Petrofac Ltd Tuesday said it has been awarded a contract for the first phase of Kuwait Oil Co's Lower Far heavy oil development programme in the north of Kuwait as part of a consortium with Greece-based Consolidated Contractors Co.

Petrofac said the scope of work the consortium will complete includes greenfield and brownfield facilities, including engineering, procurement, construction, pre-commissioning, commissioning, start up and operations, maintenance work and associated infrastructure work.

The total project value is in excess of USD4.0 billion, although Petrofac did not say how much the first phase is worth.

The work will also consist of a 162 kilometre pipeline which will transport heavy crude from the central processing facility to the south tank farm where it can be sent to a refinery in the south of Kuwait.

The engineering, procurement and construction work will involve 10 months of commissioning and ramp up work at the project, which is expected to be completed in 52 months, when the plant will be handed over to the Kuwait Oil Co, said Petrofac.

When fully operational it is expected that the initial phase of the Lower Fars heavy oil project will produce around 60,000 barrels of oil a day.

"With a track record extending over the last 14 years, it represents our eleventh project in the country and reinforces the strategic importance of Kuwait as part of our onshore engineering and construction portfolio," said Subramanian Sarma, managing director of Petrofac's onshore engineering and construction business.

Petrofac shares were up 4.4% to 653.50 pence per share on Tuesday morning, one of the best-performing stocks in the FTSE 250.