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
  • Aramco receives interest for major gas processing plant

    30 September 2026

     

    Saudi Aramco has received expressions of interest from contractors to participate in the main tendering exercise for a project to expand the Alhada gas processing plant, located about 85 kilometres northwest of Jubail in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

    The Alhada gas processing plant expansion is critical to Aramco’s goal of increasing gas production capacity by 80% by 2030 from a 2021 baseline.

    Aramco issued a solicitation of interest document for the main tendering exercise in early September, with contractors submitting responses by 17 September, sources told MEED.

    The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope of work has been divided into three main packages, sources said.

    The first EPC package relates to the main gas treatment facilities, primarily three processing trains, along with:

    • Three acid gas removal units
    • Triethylene glycol (TEG) dehydration unit
    • Two high-pressure and two low-pressure flares
    • Two flare gas recovery units
    • Two T&l flares
    • Two burn pits
    • A digital twin

    The acid gas removal units will treat sour gas by removing hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide to produce sales gas, as well as acid-gas feed for the downstream acid gas enrichment unit and sulphur recovery unit.

    The acid gas removal units will also process gas from the flare gas recovery units through a dedicated amine contactor to meet specifications for use as fuel gas. The TEG dehydration unit will then remove water from the treated gas to meet sales-gas specifications.

    The project’s second EPC package covers the sulphur recovery units. The third package involves inlet channels for monoethylene glycol, as well as common utilities and supporting structures.

    ALSO READ: Contractors express interest in sixth Jafurah expansion phase
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20127671/main4900.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Libya refinery expected to be worth more than $600m

    30 September 2026

     

    The main contract for Libya’s planned South Refinery project is expected to be worth more than $600m, according to industry sources.

    The project, located in Ubari in southern Libya, has gained momentum over the past year. The main contract is expected to be procured under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model.

    In March, US-based engineering company KBR was awarded a contract by Zallaf Exploration, Production & Refining of Oil & Gas Company to provide project management and technical services for the project.

    Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide contract management, project management and supporting technical services throughout the project’s EPC phases.

    The EPC work is expected to take 50 months, and the facility will be designed to process 30,000 barrels a day (b/d) of crude oil.

    The refinery is expected to produce:

    • Propane and butane for domestic and industrial uses
    • Gasoline
    • Kerosene
    • Diesel
    • Fuel oil

    In March, KBR said that the project was aligned with its “long-standing commitment to advancing vital oil and gas infrastructure in Libya”.

    Libya currently operates five main refineries with a combined nameplate capacity of 380,000 b/d, but actual throughput is closer to 180,000 b/d due to poor maintenance and damage from military clashes.

    In addition to the South Refinery project, Libya also plans to upgrade the Zawiya refinery and carry out projects at the Serir, Brega, Tobruk and Ras Lanuf refineries.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20124329/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Joint venture wins $230m Ras El-Hekma buildings

    30 September 2026

    A joint venture of UK-based Innovo Build and Egypt’s Redcon Construction has won a contract worth about E£12bn ($230m) to carry out infrastructure and construction works for the DP03 East package of the Wadi Yemm development at Ras El-Hekma on Egypt’s North Coast.

    Wadi Yemm is being developed by the UAE’s Modon Development as the first phase of its Ras El-Hekma masterplan, which will comprise 17 planned districts.

    DP03 East has a built-up area of 323,000 square metres and is scheduled for completion within 21 months.

    The scope of work includes more than 660 residential units – comprising standalone villas and townhouses – as well as public service areas, lakes, a commercial mall, landscaping and roadworks.

    The delivery of units at Wadi Yemm is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2029.

    Ras El-Hekma is located on a spur of land on Egypt’s northern Mediterranean coast, about 240 kilometres west of Alexandria.

    Abu Dhabi-based holding company ADQ appointed Modon Holding as master developer for the Ras El-Hekma project in 2024. Modon will oversee the overall development, which covers more than 170 million square metres (sq m).

    Modon will develop the first phase, covering 50 million sq m. The remaining 120 million sq m will be developed in partnership with private developers, under the supervision of the recently established ADQ subsidiary Ras El-Hekma Urban Development Project Company and Modon.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20123189/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Hassan Allam wins $1bn Cairo mixed-use project deal

    30 September 2026

    Grova Developments, the real estate development arm of Egypt’s Hassan Allam Holding, has awarded Hassan Allam Construction a $1bn contract to deliver the Grova Westfields project in West Cairo.

    Hassan Allam Construction’s scope of work includes a 150-key five-star hotel, branded residences, luxury villas and apartments, as well as infrastructure and landscaping works.

    The project spans about 1.2 million square metres and is being developed in partnership with the Egyptian Kuwaiti Company for Real Estate Development.

    Broadway Malyan has been appointed to lead the master planning and architectural design.

    In October last year, Hassan Allam Construction announced that it had won a $550m contract to build another mixed-use development spanning more than 128 hectares in New Cairo.

    That development comprises villas, townhouses, commercial and office space, mixed-use buildings, infrastructure and other associated facilities.

    Hassan Allam Properties is co-developing the project with Grova Developments.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20123048/main.jpeg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Neom tenders Oxagon freight rail design

    30 September 2026

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Neom has tendered a contract to prepare a concept design, feasibility study and route-alignment studies for a freight rail network connecting to the Port of Neom at Oxagon.

    Neom issued the tender last week, with a submission deadline of 29 October.

    Consultants expressed interest in the contract on 16 September, as MEED previously reported.

    The estimated 400-kilometre (km)-plus rail line is expected to connect the Port of Neom with Saudi Arabia Railways’ (SAR) North-South Railway at the Al-Baseeta junction.

    SAR’s North-South Railway is a 2,750km network built primarily to move minerals from mines in the north of the kingdom to industrial and export hubs on the Gulf coast. Its core route links the Al-Jalamid and Baitha phosphate and bauxite mines to Ras Al-Khair, Jubail and Dammam, with branch lines to Riyadh and to the Jordanian border at Al-Haditha.

    Al-Baseeta junction, where Oxagon’s proposed line would connect, sits on this network in Al-Jawf province, in the northwest of the country. The railway also carries passengers between Riyadh and Qurayyat, and has transported commercial freight such as sulphur and phosphoric acid.

    The Port of Neom currently has no rail link to the rest of Saudi Arabia, meaning cargo landing there depends on road transport or a further sea leg to reach Riyadh, the Gulf coast or export markets beyond.

    Connecting to the North-South network at Al-Baseeta would give the port direct rail access to the kingdom’s interior and, via existing branch lines, to Jordan and the Gulf coast industrial cluster around Ras Al-Khair, Jubail and Dammam.

    The proposed link would also give SAR’s network a new outlet to the Red Sea. To date, the North-South Railway has focused on Gulf coast export points, but a connection to Oxagon would provide a second maritime gateway on the opposite coast, allowing mineral and freight traffic from the north of the kingdom to reach either coastline.

    The latest development follows Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) naming Neom as one of six strategic ecosystems in its 2026-30 strategy.

    This backing comes as Neom’s operational focus appears to be evolving in response to shifting regional dynamics and global economic conditions. For example, on 15 April, Neom posted on its official X account about a new Europe-Egypt-Neom-GCC corridor, describing it as a faster route for time-sensitive goods.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20122376/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal