Kuwait's National Petroleum Company (KNPC) said on Sunday it will set up a new company to run its planned Al-Zour refinery and petrochemical complex which, when built, will be the biggest in the Middle East.

The new company, KBRC, will also manage a planned permanent liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, said KNPC chief executive Mohammed Al-Mutairi, according to comments on state news agency Kuna.

He said that setting up KBRC would allow the independent management of the projects under one structure.

Al-Mutairi told Reuters in October that commissioning of the 615,000 barrel per day refinery was expected to start in November 2019. Contracts to build the 3 billion cubic feet per day LNG import terminal were expected to be awarded early this year. -Reuters