Four major South Korean builders said Tuesday they have not received an official notice from a Kuwaiti state oil firm about the cancellation of a bilateral deal on the construction of a refinery in the Middle Eastern country.

Due to opposition from parliament, the Kuwaiti government was reportedly considering cancelling the US$8 billion deal signed between the builders and the state-run Kuwait National Petroleum Co. (KNPC) in May last year, according to industry sources.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Daelim Industrial Co. and GS Engineering & Construction Co. said in their respective regulatory filings that they have not received any official notification on a possible cancellation of the deal from KNPC.

SK Engineering & Construction Co., an unlisted construction unit under South Korea's third-largest conglomerate, SK Group, also said it had not been informed of the cancellation.

If the deal is cancelled, the builders will have to return the 100 billion won ($70.2 million) they received in advance from KNPC to the Kuwaiti oil firm, the sources said.

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