$6bn ethane cracker QatarEnergy’s largest investment ever in country's petrochemical sector

The upcoming $6bn integrated olefins and polyethylene facility at Ras Laffan, the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world, is QatarEnergy’s largest investment ever in the country’s petrochemical sector and the first direct investment in 12 years.The project marks an important milestone in QatarEnergy’s downstream expansion strategy, HE the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi said.It will not only facilitate further expansion in Qatar’s downstream and petrochemical sectors, but will also reinforce the country’s integrated position as a major global player in the upstream, LNG and downstream sectors.The Ras Laffan Petrochemicals complex, expected to begin production in 2026, consists of an ethane cracker with a capacity of 2.1mn tonnes of ethylene per year.The 435-acre project site also includes two polyethylene trains with a combined output of 1.7mn tonnes per year of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) polymer products.This will raise Qatar’s overall petrochemical production capacity to almost 14mn tonnes per year, HE al-Kaabi told Gulf Times Sunday."The Ras Laffan petrochemical complex will double our ethylene production capacity, and increase our local polymer production from 2.6mn to more than 4mn tonnes per year, and place the utmost emphasis on sustainable growth and the environment.”Al-Kaabi noted: "You may remember that in 2019, we announced the selection of Chevron Phillips Chemical as our joint venture partner in a new petrochemical complex to be developed and constructed in Ras Laffan Industrial City. We mentioned at that time that the new complex will have an ethane cracker with a nameplate capacity of 1.9mn tonnes of ethylene a year."Today I am pleased to announce that this capacity has been raised to 2.1mn tonnes per year, making it the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world. In addition, this integrated complex, which is expected to begin production in 2026, will also include two high-density polyethylene derivative units with a total production capacity of 1.7mn tonnes per year.”QatarEnergy and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company (CPChem) created a joint venture, in which QatarEnergy will own a 70% equity share, and CPChem will own a 30% share.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 of South Korea and CTCI of Taiwan.The EPC contract for the polyethylene plant was awarded to Maire Tecnimont of Italy, while Emerson of the USA was awarded the main automation contract.