General

Qatar Chemical Company Ltd (Q-Chem) is a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum Corporation and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC.

The Q-Chem project was launched in May 1997 when Qatar Petroleum (QP) – then Qatar General Petroleum Company, QGPC- and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (CPChem) formerly Phillips Petroleum Company, signed the Heads of Agreement document. The Joint Venture Agreement was later singed in November 1997 (QP 51% and CPChem 49%). In October 1998 the Emiri Decree was officially issued to form Qatar Chemical Company Ltd and on December 6, 1999 H.H. Shaikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the Heir Apparent laid the foundation stone of the company.

The Q-Chem facility in Mesaieed Industrial City is a world-class integrated petrochemical plant. By using the latest Chevron Phillips proprietary loop slurry technology, it’s capable of producing 36,000 MTA Sulphur, 500,000 MTA Ethylene, 453,000 MTA high density polyethylenes (HDPE) and 47,000 MTA of 1-Hexene.

 Infrastructure & Finance

Offsite infrastructure improvements consist of a marine dock, product and feedstock storage, buildings and pipelines:

• The dock is used primarily for export of polyethylene product in sea bulk and 25 kg bags via 20' and 40' containers.
• A Large Warehouse for Polyethylene product storage.
• The buildings include an administration building, a control building, a laboratory, a maintenance shop and garage, an operations warehouse, a firehouse, an infirmary, and a mosque.
• Pipelines are installed to area facilities providing:

  • ethane feed from the NGL-4 Fractionation Plant

  • fresh water from a tie-in located adjacent to the NGL-4 Fractionation Plant

  • mixed butane from QP storage

  • normal butane return to QP storage

  • Fuel gas supply from QP's fuel gas distribution facility.

Project Execution

All stages of implementation of the EPC Contract were managed by Q-Chem with assistance provided by Phillips Petroleum Company and QP under Support Services Agreements. The Q-Chem Project Management Team was structured to provide:

• Project Management
• Project Engineering
• Project Services
• Cost Control
• Schedule
• Invoice Audit
• IT Support
• Process Engineering
• Quality Assurance
• Construction Management
• Health and environmental

Operations personnel had been involved directly with the Project Team since the feasibility study began. This participation had continued. Operations and maintenance personnel were extensively utilized to support the Project Team during construction, pre-commissioning and start-up.

Environmental and Safety Focus

The Complex was required to meet the environmental standards of the Environmental Department of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture of the State of Qatar. Such standards address all environmental media - water, solid waste, air emissions, noise, spill prevention and control, as well as the on-going monitoring of plant performance.

To ensure the safety of all employees and associated personnel, the Complex was required to comply with internationally accepted standards and codes of practice relating to safety and fire fighting. Safety of personnel, equipment and sites is a primary business objective of both QP and CPChem, and a line responsibility that extends to all levels of management, operation, contractors and subcontractors. CPChem's Process for Safety and Environmental Excellence and QP's Health, Safety and Environmental Conservation Policy underline the Sponsors' commitment to safety and environmental stewardship.

The Complex includes its own firehouse, and is equipped with fire prevention and control equipment and state of the art alarm systems. Emergency systems to maintain control and safety in the event of the failure of power or other important utilities have been also included.