Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO), has signed with Uhde of Germany the EPC contract for launching its new LDPE-3 plant in Mesaieed. The contract signing ceremony was held under the patronage of Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy and Industry and Chairman of QAPCO, and in the presence of Dr. Mohd Yousef Al-Mulla, Board Member and GM of QAPCO as well as Mr. Klaus Shneiders, Chairman of Uhde Board and CEO.
Present also at the function from both sides were board members, and department managers, high ranking delegates and officials. Mr. Erhan Oner, CEO of Tekfen Group of Turkey and Tekfen Group Constructions and other high dignitaries and guests have attended the event as well. Full coverage of the EPC contract signing ceremony was made by the local press and some TV channels.
Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry, declared that the State of Qatar has set a wise strategy to achieve the optimal utilization of our country’s natural resources of oil and gas, through implementing mega industrial projects, by Qatar Petroleum(QP) and its subsidiaries. "Such projects have greatly enhanced the economic position of Qatar, and have contributed to the wellbeing and welfare of our people, and would definitely help in building up a bright future for Qatari generations. Launching the LDPE-3 new plant today is, no doubt, a value-added expansion project, which marks another milestone in QAPCO’s history of achievements, “ he added.
The Minister expressed his delight that the EPC contract for this project has been awarded to Uhde of Germany, who have won the international bidding competition, amongst many other qualified bidders. "Uhde is a company in the Technologies segment of the ThyssenKrupp Group and has a work force of more than 4,900 employees worldwide. The company's activities focus on the engineering and construction of chemical and other industrial plants in the following fields: fertilizers; electrolysis; gas technologies; oil, coal and residue gasification; refining technologies; organic intermediates, polymers and synthetic fibers; and also coke plant and high-pressure technologies. They also provide the customers with professional services and comprehensive solutions in all areas of industrial plant operation.
“The LDPE-3 new plant is a value-added expansion project that marks another milestone in QAPCO’s history of achievements”, Al-Attiyah added.
Mr. Klaus Schneiders, Chairman of the Executive Board of UHDE, the EPC Contractors, expressed his pride that his company had been selected, as the EPC contractor for the new Low Density Polyethylene Plant of QAPCO, and for signing the contract for such am important project.
“Uhe has a long successful track record in Qatar, and once again, we have proved to be a reliable partner to the Qatari industry”, Mr. Klaus added.
In a press conference following the signing ceremony, Dr. Mohd Yousef Al-Mulla, GM of QAPCO, said that throughout its history, QAPCO has undergone some significant revamps and expansions, including the expansion of the Ethylene Plant (EP2), which was successfully completed in 2007 and boosted its annual ethylene production capacity from 525,000 metric tons to 720,000 metric tons.
Dr. Al-Mulla referred to the underway Qatofin project, a joint venture between QAPCO (63%), Total Petrochemicals of France (36%) and Qatar Petroleum (1%), for establishing a world-class Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) plant in Mesaieed, that shall receive the ethylene delivered from a new 1,300,000 metric tons ethylene cracker plant, set up in Ras Laffan through a 120 km pipeline to produce 450,000 metric tons of linear low density polyethylene per year, and it is expected to commence in the 4th quarter of 2009.
It is worth mentioning that Qatar Petrochemical Co. (QAPCO), a joint venture between IQ (80%), and Total Petrochemicals France (20%), was the first petrochemical company in the Middle East region, established in 1974 as a multinational joint venture to utilize associated and non-associated ethane gases for the production of Ethylene and of various grades of LDPE, marketed under the ‘LOTRENE’ brand name. QAPCO today is supplying its productions of Ethylene and polyethylene to local and to the world strategic international markets.
The LDPE-3 Project will be using the excess ethylene produced by QATOFIN and QAPCO, and it is planned to produce annually 300,000 metric tons of low density poly ethylene using the high pressure tubular reactor technology from “Basell” of Germany, the leading technology provider in this application, which was acquired in 2007.
In addition to the new 300,000 metric tons low density polyethylene train, the LDPE3 Project includes a new Central Control Room common for all QAPCO and QATOFIN plants and the integration with existing utility and logistics facilities of QAPCO and QATOFIN.
The LDPE3 Project is planned to be completed on December 2011 and will be managed by QAPCO’s Project Management team. This project will be the last in the matrix of projects connected to RLOC. i.e Qatofin, Q-Chem and LDPE-3.
