QatarEnergy has announced the Final Investment Decision (FID) with Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (CPChem) to build the Ras Laffan Petrochemicals complex, a $6 billion integrated olefins and polyethylene facility at Ras Laffan Industrial City.
The Ras Laffan Petrochemicals complex, expected to begin production in 2026, consists of an ethane cracker with a capacity of 2.1 million tons of ethylene per annum, making it the largest in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world. It also includes two polyethylene trains with a combined output of 1.7 million tons per annum of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) polymer products, raising Qatar’s overall petrochemical production capacity to almost 14 million tons per annum.
Ethane crackers, which convert gas into ethylene, have been targeted by environmental activists for their emissions, while ethylene and polyethylene are used in a swathe of plastic products from piping to water bottles and food packaging.
In remarks at the signing ceremony, His Excellency Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said, “This marks QatarEnergy’s largest investment ever in Qatar’s petrochemicals sector and the first direct investment in 12 years. It will double our ethylene production capacity, and increase our local polymer production from 2.6 to more than 4 million tons per annum, and place the utmost emphasis on sustainable growth and the environment.”