Qatar Energy announced on Sunday that it had decided to conduct the Ras Laffan Petrochemical Complex worth 6 billion dollars with its partner Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. Saad Kabi, President and CEO of Qatar Energy Corporation, Minister of State for Energy, and Bruce Chin, President and CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical Corporation signed an agreement in Doha that marked the final investment decision of the project.

According to the signed agreement, the two companies established a joint venture Ras Laffan Petrochemicals, in which Qatar Energy Company will hold 70% of the shares and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company will hold 30% of the shares. This marks the largest investment ever made by Qatar Energy in Qatar's petrochemical industry and the first direct investment in 12 years. This will double our ethylene production capacity, increase our local polymer production from 2.6 tons to more than 4 million tons per year, and attach great importance to sustainable growth and the environment, Mr. Al Kaabi said.

Qatar Energy said that the complex is expected to start production in 2026, including an ethane cracking unit with an annual capacity of 2.1 million tons of ethylene, making it the largest ethane cracking unit in the Middle East and one of the largest ethane cracking units in the world. The complex will also include two high-density polyethylene derivative units with a total capacity of 1.7 million tons per year.

The project was initially announced in 2019, emphasizing how Middle East oil producers can further expand to petrochemical products used to produce plastics and packaging materials to enter new markets and find new sources of income other than crude oil and natural gas exports. There is no doubt that this cornerstone investment in Ras Lavan Industrial City marks an important milestone in Qatar's downstream energy expansion strategy. This will not only promote the further expansion of Qatar's downstream and petrochemical industries, but also consolidate our comprehensive position as a major global player in the upstream, LNG and downstream industries, Mr. Al Kaabi said.

Chevron Phillips Chemical will provide project management services. The early construction of the site started in June and is expected to start at the end of 2026. The engineering, procurement and construction of ethane cracking unit will be carried out by a joint venture between Samsung Engineering Company and CTCI. Tecnimont will implement the engineering, procurement and construction of polyethylene plant, the statement said.

The polyethylene plant will use the MarTech recycled slurry process of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company to produce high-density polyethylene, which is mainly exported from Qatar. Polyethylene is used to produce durable goods, such as natural gas and water pipelines, and recreational products such as canoes and coolers. It is also used in packaging applications to protect and preserve food and keep medical supplies sterile.

The facility will be built using modern energy-saving technology and ethane as raw material. Together with other measures, it is expected to have lower greenhouse gas emissions than similar facilities in the world. At Chevron Phillips Chemical, we continue to expand our global asset base, where we can obtain reliable and affordable raw materials. This investment will help meet the global demand for polyethylene products.Editor/Xing Wentao