QatarEnergy, CPChem start work on Ras Laffan petrochemical project

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Stated-owned QatarEnergy, formerly known as Qatar Petroleum, and US producer Chevron Phillips Chemical Co (CPChem) will start work on their proposed Ras Laffan petrochemical project this month.

The companies have awarded a lump-sum contract to Consolidated Contractors Co (CCC) to prepare the site at the Ras Laffan Industrial City in northern Qatar, QatarEnergy said in a statement on 8 June.

The Ras Laffan project will have a 2.08m tonne/year ethane cracking unit, “making it the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world”, it said.

“This project will increase Qatar’s polyethylene output capacity by approximately 64%,” said QatarEnergy president and CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, who is also Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs.

Preparation works on the site will begin this month, after which, the contract for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) is expected to be awarded, QatarEnergy said.

Start-up is slated in 2026, a year later than the initial target when the project was first announced in 2019.

The project has completed its front-end engineering and design (FEED) in 2021 and is currently in the EPC tendering phase.

“When tendering is complete and a final investment decision has been made, the project will advance to the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction phase,” it said.

The 70-30 joint venture project between Qatar Petroleum and Chevron Phillips will have 1.9m tonnes/year of ethylene capacity and 1.68m tonnes/year of high density polyethylene (HDPE) capacity with two HDPE units, ICIS had reported.

Qatar Petroleum was renamed QatarEnergy in October 2021.

Front page picture source: QatarEnergy