QatarEnergy has announced the Final Investment Decision (FID) with Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (CPChem) to build the Ras Laffan Petrochemicals complex – a US$6 billion integrated olefins and polyethylene facility at Ras Laffan Industrial City.

The announcement was made in Doha in a special ceremony during which His Excellency Mr Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi (the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, and President & CEO of QatarEnergy) and Mr Bruce Chinn (President & CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical) signed the agreement for a joint venture company to implement the project. The JV will see QatarEnergy own a 70-per-cent equity share, and CPChem owning the balance. 

The signing ceremony was attended by Mr Mark Lashier, President and CEO of Phillips 66, and senior executives from QatarEnergy and CPChem.

QatarEnergy also announced the award of the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the ethylene plant to SCJV, a joint venture company between Samsung Engineering Company Ltd of South Korea and CTCI of Taiwan. The EPC contract for the polyethylene plant was awarded to Italy’s Maire Tecnimont, while US company Emerson was awarded the main automation contract.

New petrochemicals complex is set to be the Middle East’s largest

The Ras Laffan Petrochemicals complex – expected to begin production in 2026 – consists of an ethane cracker with a capacity of 2.1 million tons of ethylene per annum, making it the largest in the Middle East, and one of the largest in the world. It also includes two polyethylene trains with a combined output of 1.7 million tons per annum of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) polymer products, raising Qatar’s overall petrochemical production capacity to almost 14 million tons per annum.

 “This marks QatarEnergy’s largest investment ever in Qatar’s petrochemicals sector, and the first direct investment in 12 years,” remarked H.E. Mr Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi. “It will double our ethylene production capacity, and increase our local polymer production from 2.6 to more than 4 million tons per annum, and place the utmost emphasis on sustainable growth and the environment.”

A major milestone in QatarEnergy’s downstream expansion strategy

“There is no doubt that this cornerstone investment in Ras Laffan Industrial City marks an important milestone in QatarEnergy’s downstream expansion strategy. It will not only facilitate further expansion in the downstream and petrochemical sectors in Qatar, but will also reinforce our integrated position as a major global player in the upstream, LNG, and downstream sectors. This will be further enhanced once the new world-scale US petrochemical project in Orange (Texas) comes online in partnership with Chevron Phillips Chemical, executed by our joint venture Golden Triangle Polymers Company” he added.

“We are delighted to enter into this exciting new venture with Chevron Phillips Chemical – a leading and highly respected international petrochemicals company, and a long-term partner with whom we have achieved many successes together building and operating plants safely and efficiently for more than 20 years,” enthused His Excellency Minister Al-Kaabi in closing. “Together, our large and diverse portfolio will not just help meet the world’s growing needs for advanced plastics and petrochemicals, but will also enable balanced growth and facilitate human development in a responsible and sustainable manner. I would like to thank everyone who has worked to reach this milestone. We are also grateful to the leadership and guidance of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for his unwavering support to Qatar’s energy sector.”

This final investment decision on the Ras Laffan Petrochemicals complex comes less than two months after QatarEnergy and Chevron Phillips Chemical took the Final Investment Decision to execute the US$8.5 billion Golden Triangle Polymers Plant on the US Gulf Coast in Texas.