Doha: Qatar Petroleum (QP), the state-owned energy giant, announced yesterday the selection of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC as its partner in a new Petrochemicals Complex, which will be developed and constructed in Ras Laffan Industrial City.
The new complex will have an ethane cracker with a nameplate capacity of 1.9 million tonnes of ethylene per annum, making it the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world. It will also include two high-density polyethylene derivative units, which will raise Qatar’s current Polyethylene production capacity by 82 percent by the fourth quarter of 2025.
The project will be built to the highest standards, deploying state-of-the-art technologies and placing utmost importance on safety, reliability and the environment.
The announcement was made during a ceremony held in Doha, during which relevant project agreements were signed by H E Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, and by Mark E Lashier, President & CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical. The ceremony was attended by senior executives from QP, Chevron Corporation, Phillips 66, and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company.
The signed agreements govern the project’s ownership and development through a new joint venture company between Qatar Petroleum (with a 70 percent participating interest), and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company (with a 30 percent participating interest).
Speaking at a press conference held on the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Al Kaabi said: “The conclusion of these agreements constitutes an important milestone for Qatar Petroleum as petrochemicals represent a major pillar of our growth strategy to achieve our vision of becoming one of the best national oil and gas companies in the world.”
He added: “This project will optimise the utilisation of ethane produced from the North Field LNG expansion project as well as from existing ethane producing projects. It will also consolidate Qatar’s position among the world’s leading petrochemicals producers, and complement our efforts to further expand our footprint in the global petrochemicals markets. This major project will provide excellent opportunities for Qatar’s private sector to contribute to the development of our oil and gas sector, and will generate significant revenues that will support the further development of our economy and the well-being of all people living in Qatar.”
Al Kaabi also expressing his gratitude to the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for his guidance and unwavering support of the energy sector. He also expressed thanks to Qatar Petroleum’s executives and staff for their dedication and commitment, and to all the companies that submitted offers for this project.
Lashier said: “Developing the Ras Laffan Petrochemicals Project is a tremendous opportunity for our company to expand on our highly-successful joint ventures with Qatar to meet the growing global demand for petrochemical products. We look forward to building on our strong relationship with Qatar Petroleum.” The engineering design of the Ras Laffan Petrochemicals Project should commence shortly, leading to a planned start-up in late 2025.
