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
  • Chinese contractor wins Saudi power and gas contracts

    4 August 2026

    Chinese contractor Ningxia Power Construction has announced it has won two contracts in Saudi Arabia covering power and gas infrastructure projects with a combined value of about RMB280m ($39m).

    The awards cover the third phase of cable laying and connection works for Saudi Aramco’s Master Gas System (MGS-III) project and the first phase of a 380kV transmission line for the Red Sea Aluminium project, the company said in a statement.

    The MGS gas booster station contract covers electrical, instrumentation and control, communications, pre-commissioning, commissioning and defect rectification works.

    The project is located northwest of Al-Mendassah in Medina Province. Construction is scheduled to last 670 days and continue through to partial mechanical completion and mechanical completion.

    The Red Sea Aluminium contract involves the first phase of a 380kV overhead transmission line project.

    The scope includes eight new transmission circuits. Four incoming double-circuit lines will extend about 15.2 kilometres from the connection point to the switchyard. Four outgoing double-circuit lines will run about 0.2 kilometres from the switchyard to the aluminium plant power station. Provision has also been made for two additional outgoing circuits in the future.

    The Red Sea Aluminium complex is a planned integrated aluminium production facility in Yanbu Industrial City being developed by Red Sea Aluminium Holdings (RSAH), a joint venture of Innovation Global Industries, Innovation New Materials and Shandong Innovation Group

    In June, RSAH awarded China’s Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation (Sepco) an estimated $100m engineering, procurement and construction contract for a 380kV overhead transmission line project at the Red Sea Aluminium complex.

    READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18081852/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Contractors submit bids for key Aramco offshore tenders

    4 August 2026

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Contractors in Saudi Aramco’s Long-Term Agreement (LTA) pool of offshore service providers have submitted bids for five offshore tenders covering the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of structures at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa, Marjan, Safaniya and Zuluf offshore oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabia.

    The tenders are numbers 167, 168, 169, 170 and 171 on Aramco’s Contract Release and Purchase Order (CRPO) system, according to sources.

    Aramco issued the five CRPOs to its offshore LTA contractors in December, setting an initial bid submission deadline of 3 February.

    The Saudi energy giant has since extended the bid submission deadline several times – to 31 March, 1 June, 1 July and then 30 July – to allow LTA contractors sufficient time to prepare proposals.

    At the request of certain bidders, Aramco granted a final two-day extension, with LTA contractors submitting their proposals for the five CRPOs on 1 August, sources told MEED.

    The basic scope of EPCI work on the tenders is as follows:

    • CRPO 167 – eight jackets at the Marjan field development
    • CRPO 168 – four production deck modules (PDMs) at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa and Safaniya fields
    • CRPO 169 – three PDMs at the Marjan field development
    • CRPO 170 – three PDMs at the Marjan field development
    • CRPO 171 – three PDMs at the Zuluf field development
    Offshore contract awards

    Aramco spent almost $11bn on offshore EPCI contracts last year, more than double its capital expenditure on offshore projects in 2024, marking another year of robust upstream project spending in Saudi Arabia.

    In July, Aramco selected contractors for five CRPOs – numbers 150, 157, 158, 159 and 160 – worth over $3bn. These involve EPCI work and infrastructure upgrades at the Abu Safah, Berri, Manifa, Marjan and Zuluf offshore fields.

    The Saudi energy giant then picked contractors for four more CRPOs that are part of the large-scale project to expand infrastructure at the Zuluf offshore field development. The tenders are CRPOs 145, 146, 147 and 148, and their combined value is estimated to be almost $6bn.

    In late December last year, Italian contractor Saipem announced securing contracts for CRPOs 162 and 165. The scope of work on CRPO 162 covers the EPCI of two rigid pipelines – a 30-inch pipeline stretching 23.98 kilometres (km) and a 20-inch pipeline, 10.23km-long; replacement of a flexible 10-inch pipeline that spans 5.1km; and modification work on topsides at the Berri and Abu Safah field developments. The duration of this contract is 32 months, Saipem said.

    The scope of work on CRPO 165, lasting 12 months, includes subsea interventions at the Marjan field development and the EPCI of 300 metres of onshore pipeline and associated tie-ins.

    In early January 2026, MEED reported that Aramco had selected US-based McDermott International for CRPO 166. The scope of work is understood to have been carved out of the $15bn Marjan offshore field development project, under which Aramco issued contracts for 20 EPCI packages in 2019. McDermott won the largest share of work on the project, securing an estimated $4.5bn of contracts across two packages.

    The contract for CRPO 166 was single-sourced to McDermott without a competitive tendering process and issued as a change order, sources told MEED.

    Aramco then awarded its second offshore contract of the year, CRPO 156, to Saipem. The scope of work covers the EPCI of a 48-inch trunkline, spanning roughly 65km offshore and 12km onshore, from the Safaniya offshore oil field to the onshore processing facility, plus associated works such as subsea hook-ups.

    CRPO 156 comprises the third package in Aramco’s latest expansion phase at Safaniya – the world’s largest offshore oil field, with a production capacity of nearly 1.2 million barrels a day (b/d). Discovered in 1951, the field is located in Gulf waters approximately 265km north of Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran.

    MEED also reported that Saipem was selected by Aramco for two more tenders as part of the Safaniya field development expansion phase – CRPOs 154 and 155. The combined contract value for CRPOs 154 and 155 is estimated at $600m, sources said.

    In April, state-owned China Offshore Oil Engineering Company won CRPO 161, which covers the EPCI of four gas jackets at the Arabiyah, Hasbah and Karan offshore fields.

    Healthy contract award pipeline

    Looking ahead, in addition to CRPOs 167-171, which are currently under bidding, Aramco is evaluating bids submitted by its offshore LTA contractors in July and August last year for at least two additional tenders.

    These are CRPOs 163 and 164, relating to the EPCI of infrastructure at the Abu Safah, Berri, Karan, Marjan and Safaniya fields.

    Separately, the offshore LTA contractors are also bidding for a new tender – CRPO 176 – that was issued by Aramco in May, according to sources.

    The scope of work on CRPO 176 covers the EPCI of seven flexible subsea pipelines with a combined length of 17km at the Berri and Marjan offshore field developments.

    Aramco’s LTA pool of offshore service providers comprises the following entities:

    • Saipem (Italy)
    • McDermott International (US)
    • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH, India) / Subsea7 (UK)
    • NMDC Energy (UAE)
    • Lamprell (UAE/Saudi Arabia)
    • China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (China)
    • Dynamic Industries (US)
    • Sapura Energy (Malaysia)
    • TechnipFMC (France) / MMHE (Malaysia)
    • Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)

    In April 2025, Aramco renewed its LTAs with the following contractors, whose contracts had either lapsed or were close to expiry:

    • Saipem
    • McDermott International
    • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon / Subsea7
    • NMDC Energy
    • Lamprell
    • China Offshore Oil Engineering Company
    ALSO READ: Aramco moves apace with Jafurah unconventional gas campaign

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18080836/main0627.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Credit ratings key to infrastructure finance

    4 August 2026

    A global convergence in how infrastructure is financed is creating new pools of capital for Gulf projects, but the region’s non-OECD status means credit ratings will be central to unlocking the largest of these, according to Fitch Ratings.

    The ratings agency said the boundaries between project finance, corporate credit and structured finance are blurring as investors seek to optimise financing for the infrastructure required to support the digital buildout and energy transition. Rising interest from institutional investors in private credit, particularly asset-backed lending, is accelerating the adoption of tailored financing structures.

    For the GCC, the shift is important because of a specific regulatory constraint. Under EU Solvency II rules, unrated infrastructure debt sourced from outside the OECD cannot be treated as qualifying infrastructure. Fitch said this means that for investors seeking to access infrastructure opportunities in Saudi Arabia, India and other non-OECD markets, a credit rating is necessary for regulatory capital treatment.

    The distinction is significant for a region running one of the world’s largest project pipelines. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their neighbours are financing large-scale projects across the power, water, transport and digital infrastructure sectors, and much of the incremental capital Fitch identifies is held by regulated institutions for which ratings determine capital charges.

    Insurers pivot

    Insurers and pension funds are among the most significant structural sources of infrastructure capital, with global aggregated assets of about $45tn and $40tn respectively. Fitch says their increasing involvement is directly intertwined with the role of credit ratings, as cost-of-duration mismatches within solvency regimes push insurers towards liability-driven investment strategies that better match assets with liabilities.

    Insurer allocations to infrastructure have historically been low, at a global median of about 1% of investment portfolios. Fitch said this is changing rapidly. It cited a Nuveen survey conducted at the end of 2025 indicating that private market infrastructure debt is set to be the most favoured destination for fixed-income allocation for the third consecutive year, with 46% of respondents planning to grow allocations over the next two years.

    Sovereign wealth funds also play a major role, with over 30% of their private market fund allocations going to infrastructure, with AI-linked infrastructure the dominant sub-theme, displacing transport and logistics for new commitments. Energy transition ranked a close second, often aligned with national strategic objectives.

    Larger funds with more than $100bn in assets are deploying directly and through co-investments, bypassing fund structures to reduce fees and increase control. Fitch said such funds are increasingly price-setters in large infrastructure deals, and that their strategic national mandates mean they will absorb assets at returns that pure financial investors would reject.

    Regional outlook

    For the GCC specifically, Fitch said additional investment is likely to support security enhancements for core infrastructure assets in response to conflict in the region, alongside upgrades to transport and social infrastructure. It expects increased renewable power capacity and enhanced oil and gas-related infrastructure.

    READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18079923/main.gif
    Colin Foreman
  • AtkinsRealis confirms Sphere Abu Dhabi role

    4 August 2026

    AtkinsRealis has confirmed it has been appointed lead design and supervision consultant on the $1.7bn Sphere Abu Dhabi project on Yas Island.

    The Canadian engineering and project management firm said it will partner with local firm Alec Engineering & Contracting on the venue, which is scheduled to open in 2029.

    AtkinsRealis will be responsible for overall design coordination across architecture, structural engineering and specialist immersive technologies. Alec – appointed by Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture & Tourism (DCT Abu Dhabi) – will oversee procurement, construction delivery and project completion.

    The project is being delivered under a design-and-build framework.

    Alec Holdings confirmed in May that its subsidiary, Alec Engineering & Contracting, had received a letter of award for the construction contract. MEED previously reported that Alec was the selected contractor and had been working on the project during the pre-construction phase.

    Sphere Abu Dhabi will be built on Yas Island on a plot between Yas Mall and SeaWorld Abu Dhabi. It will be the first Sphere venue outside the US and is expected to echo the scale of Sphere Las Vegas, with a capacity of up to 20,000, depending on configuration.

    The venue will feature a fully programmable LED exosphere and a wraparound interior display capable of delivering 16K-resolution visuals, alongside beamforming audio technology that can direct sound to individual seats.

    DCT Abu Dhabi is developing Sphere Abu Dhabi with US-based Sphere Entertainment.

    READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb fortunes diverge
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18079715/main.jpg
    Colin Foreman
  • Oman opens door to direct power sales

    4 August 2026

    Commentary
    Mark Dowdall
    Power & water editor

    Oman’s Direct Sales Framework has been in place since April, but its success will ultimately depend on whether developers and large electricity users choose to adopt it.

    The framework establishes a regulated process that allows qualifying private renewable energy developers to sell electricity directly to eligible consumers, instead of through Oman’s traditional single-buyer model.

    For the first time, large electricity consumers have a formal mechanism to procure renewable power directly from developers, rather than relying solely on electricity supplied through the wider grid.

    The recently tendered 280MW Marsa solar independent power project could provide an early indication of how the framework will be used in practice.

    The project has been identified as a potential early application of the new regime, with electricity generated near Haima expected to be supplied to the Marsa LNG facility at Sohar through Oman’s transmission network.

    The framework also requires grid-connection studies, network approvals and annual capacity limits, underscoring that direct sales will continue to operate within a regulated market rather than an open one.

    Developers will also need customers willing to sign long-term agreements, while large electricity users will need to see clear value in procuring renewable power directly.

    The scale of electricity demand expected over the coming decade will be a key factor in driving these decisions. Large industrial consumers are expected to account for a growing share of Oman’s future electricity demand as mining, green hydrogen, metals and other energy-intensive industries expand.

    Oman’s procurement of utility-scale generation through competitive tenders is not slowing down either, as evidenced by recent advisory tenders for up to 4GW of solar projects targeted for commercial operation by Q2 2030.

    In the meantime, for some users, securing renewable electricity directly from developers may become an attractive alternative to relying solely on the traditional supply model.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18038648/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall