Qatar Energy and the American Chevron Phillips Chemical yesterday signed an agreement worth six billion dollars for the construction of a plant to transform natural gas into polyethylene in particular which will have the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East. East. According to the terms of the agreement, the future plant must enter service in 2026 within the Ras Laffan complex, Qatar’s industrial port and the heart of its gas industry. It will produce 2.1 million tons of ethylene and 1.7 million tons of polyethylene derivatives annually. The complex will produce “less waste and greenhouse gas emissions” than similar facilities around the world, said Saad al-Kaabi, Qatari energy minister and CEO of Qatar Energy.
The state-owned Qatari giant owns 70% of the shares in the joint venture, with the remaining 30% being held by Chevron Phillips. “This is the largest investment ever made by Qatar Energy in Qatar’s petrochemical sector and the first direct investment in 12 years,” Kaabi said at the signing ceremony in Doha. Ras Laffan will double the ethylene production capacity of the small gas-rich emirate, while increasing its production of polymers from 2.6 million to more than four million tonnes per year. In total, Qatar’s petrochemical production capacity will increase to nearly 14 million tons per year. For Mr. Kaabi, this investment “marks an important step” in Qatar Energy’s expansion strategy. Ethylene and polyethylene are used in a multitude of plastic products, from pipes to water bottles to food packaging. Qatar is one of the main producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world, with its large reserves, including the offshore North Field, the largest natural gas field in the world which it shares with Iran.
Qatar Energy and the American Chevron Phillips Chemical yesterday signed an agreement worth six billion dollars for the construction of a plant to transform natural gas into polyethylene in particular which will have the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East. East. According to the terms of the agreement, the future plant must enter service in 2026 within the Ras…