Industries Qatar, the Gulf’s second-largest petrochemicals firm, said on Thursday it had put its multi billion dollar Al Sejeel petrochemical complex project on hold and was studying a new scheme instead that would yield better returns.
The company “confirmed that the Al Sejeel Petrochemical Complex project has been put on hold, and that a new downstream petrochemical project that is expected to yield better economic returns is instead under study,” it said on a bourse statement.
Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO) signed an agreement in February 2012 to jointly develop the Al Sajeel mega-petrochemical complex in Ras Laffan, with QP holding an 80 percent stake and QAPCO owning the rest.
Industries Qatar owns 80 percent of QAPCO.
The Al Sejeel petrochemical project, one of the world’s largest mixed-feed steam crackers, was scheduled for completion in 2018 as part of Qatar’s large-scale expansion of the petrochemicals sector.