Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) CEO Mohammad Al-Mutairi (left), shakes hands with the Vice-President and Managing Director of Tecnicas Reunidas (a Spanish industrial engineering group) Juan Liado during the Al-Zour refinery signing ceremony on Oct 13, at KNPC headquarters in Al-Ahmadi City, 40 km south of Kuwait City. (AFP)

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 13, (AFP): The Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) Tuesday signed contracts worth $13.2 billion (11.6 billion euros) with international firms to build a refinery said to be the Gulf state's largest development project.The deal comes as Kuwait, a key oil producer, moves to modernise its energy facilities and boost its refining capabilities.The Al-Zour refinery near the border with Saudi Arabia is slated to produce 615,000 barrels per day and come onstream in November 2019, KNPC CEO Mohammad Al-Mutairi told reporters.The 10 foreign companies involved include Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas, China's Sinopec, South Korea's Hyundai, SK, Daewoo and Hanwha, Britain-based Fluor, Italy's Saipem and India's Essar.The new refinery will eventually be part of a complex to include a huge petrochemicals venture and a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import facility, both under study, Mutairi said.Last year, the KNPC signed contracts for a $12 billion project to upgrade two of its three existing refineries.Kuwait sits on 101.5 billion barrels of crude reserves -- equivalent to 6.8 percent of the world's proven reserves according to the latest OPEC figures. It pumps 2.8 million bpd.