QatarEnergy and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company have awarded early site-works contract for the Ras Laffan Petrochemical Project (RLPP), marking RLPP’s commencement of execution. The RLPP is expected to commence production in 2026.
Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) has been selected as the contractor to undertake this work and was awarded a lump-sum contract to prepare the site for the new facility within Ras Laffan Industrial City. Work will commence in June, at the conclusion of which the EPC contract for the project is expected to be awarded.
RLPP a major building block in QatarEnergy’s portfolio
Commenting on the occasion, HE Mr Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the president and CEO of QatarEnergy said: “The award of this contract marks the start of the execution phase of RLPP, which is a major building block in QatarEnergy’s efforts to further expand and diversify its business portfolio and implement world-class downstream project. This project will increase Qatar’s polyethylene output capacity by approximately 64%.”
First announced in 2019, the RLPP is a joint venture between QatarEnergy and Chevron Phillips Chemical. The RLPP will feature a 2,080 kilo tonnes per annum ethane cracking unit making it the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world. The facility will also include two high-density polyethylene units, which will significantly raise Qatar’s current polyethylene production capacity.
The project has completed front-end engineering and design in 2021, and is currently in the EPC tendering phase, according to a statement from QatarEnergy.
Once tendering is complete and the final investment decision is made, the project will advance to the EPC phase.