Kuwait expects to sign the final contracts to build its Al Zour refinery within two months after awarding deals worth $8.4 billion, an oil official said.

"Contracts will be signed within two months," state refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) deputy chairman Assad Al Saad.

KNPC awarded deals to build its new 615,000 bpd refinery to four South Korean firms and one Japanese in the Middle East's biggest refinery project.

A package worth $4 billion to build crude distillation units went to a combination of Japan's JGC Corporation, and South Korea's GS Engineering and Construction Corporation.

A $2 billion contract went to South Korea's SK Energy to build a hydrogen production unit, while Daelim Industrial won a $1.2 billion contract to set up storage tanks.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction won a $1.1 billion deal for marine export facilities, while another project was won by US engineering firm Fluor Corporation, KNPC said.