A consortium led by Italy's Saipem has submitted the lowest offer in a bid for work on Kuwait's planned Al-Zour refinery, which makes it likely to be selected for the project, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The consortium has submitted an offer for about KD475 million ($1.57 billion), but the tender still requires final approval from the country's higher tenders committees, the source said. He did not provide information on other bids received.

Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah said Saipem's offer was for the so-called "fourth package", the last major contract for the Zour plant. It includes building storage tanks and pipelines for the refinery, one of the largest in the Middle East.

Last month, state-run Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) awarded KD3.48 billion ($11.5 billion) in contracts to build the planned 615,000 barrel-per-day refinery.

That included a KD454-million ($1.5 billion) contract for a consortium comprising Saipem, Hyundai Engineering and Construction and SK Engineering and Construction to build a marine export terminal.

Signing of all contracts is expected to take place in early October. - Reuters