QatarEnergy announced a final investment decision with American Chevron Phillips Chemical Company to build a plant including the biggest ethane cracker in the Middle East, converting natural gas into polyethylene and other plastics.
Read more: QatarEnergy partners with Shell for large-scale LNG project
Both parties agreed to form a joint venture for the Ras Laffan petrochemicals project, with QatarEnergy owning 70 percent and Chevron Phillips owning the remaining 30 percent, QatarEnergy said in a statement after a signing ceremony in Doha.
The project also includes two polyethylene trains with a combined output capacity of 1.7 million mt/year of high-density polyethylene polymer products, bringing Qatar’s total petrochemical production capacity to approximately 14 million mt/year, according to the statement. Chevron Phillips is a joint venture (JV) between Chevron and Phillips 66.
Qatar, one of the world’s top producers of liquified natural gas (LNG), will see its ethylene production capacity double on the back of the new complex. Local polymer production will also increase from 2.6 million to 4 million tonnes per annum.
Moreover, SCJV, a joint venture between Samsung Engineering Co. of South Korea and CTCI of Taiwan, was also awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction contract for the ethylene plant by QatarEnergy. Maire Tecnimont of Italy was awarded the EPC contract for the polyethylene plant, while Emerson of the United States was awarded the main automation contract.
Attending the signing ceremony were Saad Al Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the president and chief executive of QatarEnergy, and Bruce Chinn, president, and chief executive of Chevron Phillips Chemical.
