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Qatar chemical projects take a step forward

20 January 2025

 

Qatar has invested tens of billions of dollars this decade in its giant North Field liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion programme, as well as projects to increase gas production from the massive North Field offshore reserve.

Along with raising gas and LNG production capacity, state enterprise QatarEnergy has also sought to derive greater economic value from its natural gas output by allocating significant capital expenditure (capex) to ethane-based petrochemical projects.

Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works are progressing on the Ras Laffan petrochemicals project, which will consist of an ethane cracker with an output capacity of 2.1 million tonnes a year (t/y) of ethylene, making it the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world. When the facility is commissioned in 2026, it will raise Qatar’s ethylene production potential by nearly 70%.

QatarEnergy and US-based Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) have allocated a capex budget of $6bn to the Ras Laffan petrochemicals project, making it one of the largest chemical investments in Qatar.

Ras Laffan Petrochemicals, a 70:30 joint venture of QatarEnergy and CPChem, is the operator of the Ras Laffan project. Chevron and Phillips 66 are each 50% stakeholders in CPChem.

Ras Laffan project EPC works

QatarEnergy and CPChem signed the final investment decision agreement and awarded the two main contracts for EPC works for the Ras Laffan petrochemicals complex in January 2023.

A consortium of South Korea’s Samsung E&A and Taiwan-based CTCI Corporation won the EPC contract for the main ethylene plant. Samsung E&A is in charge of the major ethylene production facilities. Its scope of work includes furnaces, ethane (C2) hydrogenation, the hydrogen purification unit and three main compressors. CTCI is responsible for the utility infrastructure, including steam/condensate collecting and boiler feed water.

The EPC contract for the polyethylene plant was awarded to Italian contractor Maire Tecnimont, which announced the value of its contract to be $1.3bn.

Maire Tecnimont is required to execute the EPC of the main polyethylene plant, which includes two polyethylene units with a capacity of 1 million t/y and 680,000 t/y, respectively, together with the associated utilities and offsite facilities. The Italian contractor’s scope of work also covers engineering services, equipment and material supply, and construction activities up to mechanical completion.

US-headquartered industrial digitalisation services provider Emerson was awarded the main automation contract for the Ras Laffan petrochemicals project.

In November last year, the Samsung E&A and CTCI consortium secured another contract from Ras Laffan Petrochemical, worth $418m, to build the main ethylene storage plant for the upcoming facility.

Qapco petrochemicals project

Meanwhile, front-end engineering and design works continue on Qatar Petrochemical Company’s (Qapco) project to build a large-scale integrated petrochemicals production complex in Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC). The complex will feature propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene (PP) production plants.

Qapco’s planned petrochemicals facility is estimated to have a production capacity of 1 million t/y of propylene, which will be converted into 1.08 million t/y of polypropylene grades, including co-polymer products. The propylene to polypropylene conversion will be done by two 540,000 t/y-capacity processing trains and achieved by adding an ethylene comonomer.

Propane and butane, sourced from units within RLIC, will be the main feedstock for the PDH and PP plants.

Qapco is expected to start the main EPC tendering process for the integrated petrochemicals production complex in the first quarter of this year.

Industrial salt project

Separately, QatarEnergy signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding in September last year between its subsidiary Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company (MPHC), Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company (QIMC) and Turkiye’s Atlas Yatirim Planlama to create a new entity called Qatar Salt Products Company (QSalt).

QSalt will build a salt production plant in the Um Al-Houl area of Qatar at an estimated cost of $275m. MPHC will be the largest shareholder in QSalt with a 40% stake, while QIMC and Atlas Yatirim Planlama will hold a 30% stake each. QatarEnergy subsidiary Qapco and MPHC subsidiary Qatar Vinyl Company (QVC) will operate the facility.

Qapco is an 80:20 joint venture of Industries Qatar and France’s TotalEnergies. QatarEnergy, in turn, owns the majority 51% stake in Industries Qatar.

MPHC, in which QatarEnergy holds the majority 57.85% stake, owns a 55.2% stake in QVC.

The new plant in Um Al-Houl will produce industrial salts essential for the petrochemicals industry, along with bromine, potassium chlorides and demineralised water, which will be produced at a later stage, “contributing to product diversification and economic growth”, QatarEnergy said.

The plant will have a production capacity of 1 million t/y, and will “significantly reduce Qatar’s reliance on imported raw materials, addressing the current import of approximately 850,000 tonnes [a year] of table and industrial salts annually”.

This facility will utilise wastewater from reverse osmosis desalination units, transforming waste from desalination processes into a valuable resource.

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Indrajit Sen

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    Indrajit Sen