Shell, Europe's largest oil producer, and Qatar Petroleum say they are scrapping a planned petrochemicals project in the Gulf nation amid falling energy prices.
Shell said in a statement Wednesday that high costs made the Al Karaana plant "commercially unfeasible, particularly in the current economic climate prevailing in the energy industry."
The companies say the joint-venture complex, that was to have been owned 80 percent by Qatar Petroleum and 20 percent by Shell, was supposed to be built in Ras Laffan Industrial City.
Prices have slumped almost 60 percent since June. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, was down another 82 cents to $47 a barrel in London on Wednesday.
