meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

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.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13257580/main.gif
Indrajit Sen

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Saudi Arabia seeks firms for food testing labs PPP project

    2 April 2026

    Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Municipalities & Housing, in collaboration with the National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP), has issued an expression of interest (EOI) notice for a contract to develop and operate municipal food safety laboratories under a public-private partnership (PPP) framework.

    The project will be delivered on an equip, operate, maintain and transfer basis, with a contract duration of five years.

    The EOI was issued on 1 April, with a submission deadline of 15 April.

    The project scope covers the equipping, operation and maintenance of municipal food safety laboratories across five municipalities: Hafr Al-Batin, Northern Borders, Tabuk, Qassim and Al-Ahsa.

    Key objectives include upgrading laboratory equipment, expanding chemical and microbiological testing capacity for food and water products, and enhancing testing accuracy to support laboratory compliance across the value chain. The project also aims to ensure effective knowledge transfer and a structured handover to the relevant municipalities at the end of the contract term.

    NCP said in a statement: “The project is intended to strengthen public health and safety standards for citizens and residents of the kingdom in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030, while developing the municipal monitoring ecosystem, optimising food and water testing services, and enabling private sector participation in accordance with global best practices.”

    In October last year, NCP highlighted the scale and diversity of opportunities in the kingdom’s PPP pipeline.

    “At the moment, we have around 200 projects in the pipeline with a total value of roughly $190bn,” said Salman Badr, executive vice president – infrastructure advisory, NCP, during a MEED webinar.

    The projects are spread across 17 sectors. “We have a very sizable programme, and it reflects the breadth of the kingdom’s transformation agenda,” he said.

    NCP was established in 2017. It serves as the central authority and catalyst for designing and implementing privatisation and PPP projects across the kingdom.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16236864/main.gif
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Parsons to project manage Al-Ittihad Sports Village in Jeddah

    2 April 2026

    US-based engineering firm Parsons Corporation has been awarded a contract by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad Club Company to act as project management consultant for the Al-Ittihad Sports Village in Jeddah.

    Under the contract, Parsons will support the project during the design stage.

    The sports village will be developed near King Abdullah Sports City and will include Al-Ittihad’s headquarters, academy training pitches and supporting facilities, performance development centres, administrative offices and a range of commercial components.

    The development is being designed in line with Fifa requirements and international best practices, with the aim of strengthening high-performance sports infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

    The latest award follows Parsons’ recent appointment to a 60-month contract by the Public Investment Fund-backed New Murabba Development Company to provide design and construction technical support.

    As part of that role, Parsons will support the development of the project’s downtown area, which will span 14 million square metres of residential, workplace and entertainment space.

    In October last year, Parsons announced it had secured a SR210m ($56m) contract from Diriyah Company. Its scope includes the design and construction supervision of infrastructure works in phase two of the Diriyah project, covering streets, footpaths, open spaces, and civic buildings and facilities.

    In May last year, Parsons also confirmed its appointment as delivery partner for the airside and landside packages at King Salman International airport in Riyadh.

    In a statement, Parsons said it had signed two contracts with King Salman International Airport Development Company. The first covers airfield assets, including runways, taxiways, aircraft parking areas and air traffic control towers.

    The second contract relates to landside infrastructure, including roads, utilities, tunnels, bridges, rail networks and landscaping.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16233673/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Read the April 2026 MEED Business Review

    2 April 2026

    Download / Subscribe / 14-day trial access

    When the first missiles and drones were fired at the GCC on 28 February, the region’s economic story pivoted abruptly, from long-term vision-building to near-term resilience.

    The conflict is now the Gulf’s most consequential economic stress test in a generation. It is challenging the safe haven premium that underpins capital inflows, while disrupting the physical networks that keep the region’s economies running, from energy exports and shipping lanes to airports and tourism.

    MEED editor Colin Foreman asks whether the GCC can sustain investor confidence as energy assets, trade routes, airports and banks absorb the shock. Read more here.

    April’s market focus is on Saudi Arabia, where the Iran war is compounding the logic behind the kingdom’s strategic pivot in its investment plans.

    This edition also includes MEED’s 2026 GCC contractor ranking, in which Chinese firms have surged to the top as Saudi spending cuts and geopolitical risks weigh on GCC construction activity.

    In the latest issue, we explore the region’s evolving arbitration landscape; present exclusive leadership insight from Jacobs on the future of passenger rail in the Middle East; and talk to Leyla Abdimomunova, head of real estate and construction at the Public Investment Fund’s National Development Division, about remaking Saudi construction.

    We hope our valued subscribers enjoy the April 2026 issue of MEED Business Review. 

     

    Must-read sections in the April 2026 issue of MEED Business Review include:

    > AGENDA: Gulf economies under fire

    INDUSTRY REPORT:
    GCC contractor ranking
    > Construction guard undergoes a shift

    > LEGAL: Redefining the region’s arbitration landscape

    > QATAR LNG: Qatar’s new $8bn investment heats up global LNG race  

    > INTERVIEW: Leyla Abdimomunova, National Development Division, PIF

    > LEADERSHIP: Shaping the future of passenger rail in the Middle East 

    > SAUDI MARKET FOCUS: 
    > COMMENT: Risk accelerates Saudi spending shift
    > GVT &: ECONOMY: Riyadh navigates a changed landscape
    > BANKING: Testing times for Saudi banks
    > UPSTREAM: Offshore oil and gas projects to dominate Aramco capex in 2026
    > DOWNSTREAM: Saudi downstream projects market enters lean period
    > POWER: Wind power gathers pace in Saudi Arabia
    > WATER: Sharakat plan signals next phase of Saudi water expansion
    > CONSTRUCTION: Saudi construction enters a period of strategic readjustment
    > TRANSPORT: Rail expansion powers Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure push

    > MEED COMMENTS: 
    >     Iran war erodes LNG’s image of reliability
    > Dubai's real estate faces a hard test
    > Energy resilience matters as much as capacity
    > Drawn-out conflict may shift planning priorities

    > GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf index rises amid tensions

    > FEBRUARY 2025 CONTRACTS: Middle East contract awards

    > ECONOMIC DATA: Data drives regional projects

    > OPINION: The end of the republic and the end of times

    > BUSINESS OUTLOOK: Finance, oil and gas, construction, power and water contracts

    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16222272/main.gif
    MEED Editorial
  • Consultants submit bids for Al-Maktoum airport metro link

    2 April 2026

     

    French firm Egis has emerged as the lowest bidder for the design contract for the Route 2020 extension, which will start from the Expo 2020 metro station and connect with Al-Maktoum International airport’s West Terminal.

    Egis submitted the lowest bid, priced at AED232.6m ($63.3m).

    The other bidders are:

    • Halcrow International (UK): $66.4m
    • Parsons (US): $71.3m
    • Aecom (US): $82.6m
    • Surbana Jurong (Singapore): $106m

    The extension to the line will run for about 3 kilometres (km) and will feature two stations.

    MEED understands that the invitation to bid was issued in January with a submission deadline of mid-March.

    The existing Route 2020 metro link is a 15km-long line that branches off the Red Line at Jebel Ali metro station. The line comprises 11.8km of elevated tracks and 3.2km of tunnels, and has five elevated stations and two underground stations.

    The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) awarded the AED10.6bn ($2.9bn) design-and-build contract for the project to a consortium of Spain’s Acciona, Turkiye’s Gulermak and France’s Alstom in 2016.

    Dubai’s plans for its metro network do not stop with connecting the extension of the Route 2020 metro line to Al-Maktoum International airport. There are long-term plans for further extensions.

    Other metro projects

    In October last year, MEED exclusively reported that the RTA had selected US-based engineering firm Aecom to provide consultancy services for the upcoming Dubai Metro Gold Line project, also known as Metro Line 4.

    The Gold Line will start at Al-Ghubaiba in Bur Dubai. It will run parallel to – and alleviate pressure on – the existing Red Line, before heading inland to Business Bay, Meydan, Global Village and residential developments in Dubailand.

    The other metro lines in the pipeline are the Purple Line and the Pink Line, both of which are in the early stages of development.

    Firms are also bidding to update the emirate’s rail masterplan. In October 2025, MEED reported that 10 firms had submitted offers to undertake the project.

    The rail masterplan study will update and modify the RTA’s rail network, which includes the Dubai Metro and Dubai Tram. These plans will support Dubai’s 2040 urban masterplan, which aims for all residents to be within a 30-minute metro or light-rail trip to their place of work. 

    The existing network includes the Red and Green lines of the Dubai Metro and the Dubai Tram, which connects Al-Sufouh and Dubai Marina to the metro network. The last rail project to start operations in Dubai was the Red Line extension that opened for Expo 2020.

    There are also existing and planned rail lines connecting Dubai to other emirates that are being developed and operated by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Rail. These include passenger and freight services as well as a high-speed rail connection.

    In December 2024, the RTA awarded a AED20.5bn main contract for the Dubai Metro Blue Line project to a consortium of Turkish firms Limak Holding and Mapa Group and the Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation.

    The Blue Line consists of 14 stations, including three interchange stations at Al-Jaddaf, Al-Rashidiya and International City 1, as well as a station in Dubai Creek Harbour. By 2040, daily ridership on the Blue Line is projected to reach 320,000 passengers. It will be the first Dubai Metro line to cross Dubai Creek, doing so on a 1,300-metre viaduct.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16233295/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Chevron to drill two gas wells in Egypt before 2027

    2 April 2026

    Chevron is planning to drill two new gas wells this year, one in the Narges field and another in the Western Mediterranean, according to Clay Neff, the president of exploration operations at the company.

    The well in the Western Mediterranean area is due to be drilled in partnership with the London-headquartered oil and gas company Shell.

    Egypt and the broader East Mediterranean region will be core pillars of Chevron’s investment roadmap over the coming years, Neff said.

    He also said that the investments in Egypt reflected the Eastern Mediterranean’s growing strategic importance within Chevron’s global portfolio

    According to Neff, Chevron is aiming to increase its operational production capacity in the region by as much as 50% over the next five years, something that is expected to strengthen cash generation and enhance profitability from its regional operations.

    Chevron’s presence in Egypt dates back nearly nine decades, beginning in 1937 with the distribution of petroleum products before expanding into exploration and production activities in recent years.

    The company currently produces more than 2 billion cubic feet of gas a day across the Eastern Mediterranean.

    Chevron is advancing broader expansion initiatives in the Eastern Mediterranean region that include modernising existing facilities and increasing production capacity, alongside ongoing engineering and design work on the Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus.

    A recently signed government agreement enables the construction of a subsea pipeline connecting Cyprus directly to Egypt.

    Neff said the company is targeting an early final investment decision on the project next year, expressing confidence that close cooperation between Cairo and Nicosia will support timely progress.

    He emphasised that meeting domestic and regional energy demand remains the company’s top priority before directing additional supplies toward export markets in Europe or elsewhere.

    Neff said that Egypt’s well-developed energy infrastructure, particularly its pipeline network and liquefaction plants, provided a strategic edge, adding that new discoveries and capacity expansions will gradually support higher export volumes while safeguarding local supply needs.

    The comments from Neff come shortly after it was announced that the UK oil and gas company BP was making progress with its campaign to drill five wells in Egypt’s portion of the Mediterranean.

    BP’s Fayoum 4 well is scheduled to start production in July, with an estimated output of around 100 million cubic feet of gas a day.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16226687/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp