QATAR - New Projects.QP is studying two projects for Umm Said to complement Qapco's production: (1) a 100,000 t/y toluene toluene (tōl`y  ēn') or methylbenzene (mĕth'əlbĕn`zēn), C7H8 di-isocyanate (TDI)
plant, to cost $250m, as a JV of QP and Enichem; and (2) 250,000 t/y
propane dehydrogenation DehydrogenationA reaction in which hydrogen is detached from a molecule. The reaction is strongly endothermic, and therefore heat must be supplied to maintain the reaction temperature. and polypropylene plants as a JV of QP and TotalFinaElf. Methanol/MTBE: QP embarked on two methanol/MTBE projects in the early 1990s. They were delayed by differences between QP and foreign partners on financing, the way construction work should be contracted, inefficiencies within the Qatari decision making system, etc. Under the new Emir, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani became the Emir of the State of Qatar on June 26 1995 after deposing his father, who was vacationing in Switzerland at the time. Sheikh Hamad was acclaimed Crown Prince in 1977 and at the same time was appointed Minister of Defense. , things have moved ahead at a quicker pace, but only one of the projects has been executed. The Qatar Fuel Additives Co. (Qafac) in mid-1999 began production of methanol and MTBE MTBE Methyl-tert-butyl-ether Surgery An aliphatic ether that rapidly dissolves cholesterol stones in vivo, introduced under local anesthesia via a percutaneous transhepatic cholecystectomy catheter, as a non-invasive method for treating gallstones; after injection, from a $700m plant at Umm Said which was completed ahead of schedule. The plant has the capacity of 825,000 t/y of methanol and 610,000 t/y of MTBE, using methane and butane as feedstocks. This is a JV owned 50% by QP, 20% by Taiwan's Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC (1) (Central Processing Complex) An IBM mainframe that has two or more central processors (CPs) that share memory. It is the collection of processors, memory and I/O subsystems manufactured with a single serial number, typically all contained in one cabinet. ) and 15% by each of Lee Chang Yung Chemical Industry of Taiwan and International Octane of Canada. The foreign partners are committed to lift the output, mostly marketed in Taiwan. Qatar Clean Energy Co. (Qacenco), the second methanol/MTBE project, has been postponed to this decade. Qacenco was launched in January 1992 as a JV of QGPC QGPC Qatar General Petroleum Corporation QGPC Qatar General Petroleum Company and Penspen of the UK. Petronas of Malaysia was brought in later but it withdrew from the JV in May 1996. Under study for years is a plant to be built at Ras Laffan to produce betwen 1-3m t/y of methanol as a JV of QP (51%) and Methanex (49%). |
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