DOHA (Reuters) – QatarEnergy announced on Sunday a final decision to invest in the Ras Laffan Petrochemicals complex with its partner Chevron Phillips Chemical, a six billion dollar project considered the largest of its kind in the Middle East.
The complex, which should begin production in 2026, includes an ethane steam cracking unit with a capacity of 2.1 million dollars worth of ethylene per year.
The integrated site also includes two high-density polyethylene derivatives units with a total capacity of 1.7 million tonnes per year, said QatarEnergy boss Saad al-Kaabi Kaabi.
Initially announced in 2019, the project underlines the desire of oil producers in the Middle East to strengthen their position in petrochemicals – plastics and packaging materials – in order to find new markets and no longer depend solely on exports of crude oil and natural gas.
The complex will be 70% owned by state-owned QatarEnergy and 30% by Chevron Phillips Chemicals, under the terms of the deal signed on Sunday.
(Imad Creidi, Maha El Dahan, Nafisa Eltahir and Ahmed Tolba, Gilles Guillaume for the French version)
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