QatarEnergy, Chevron Phillips Secure $4.4 Bln Financing for Petrochemicals Project

Ras Laffan Industrial City, north of Qatari capital, Doha. (Getty Images)
Ras Laffan Industrial City, north of Qatari capital, Doha. (Getty Images)
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QatarEnergy, Chevron Phillips Secure $4.4 Bln Financing for Petrochemicals Project

Ras Laffan Industrial City, north of Qatari capital, Doha. (Getty Images)
Ras Laffan Industrial City, north of Qatari capital, Doha. (Getty Images)

QatarEnergy and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC announced on Monday that they have secured $4.4 billion financing for the Ras Laffan Petrochemicals project.

QatarEnergy revealed in a press release that the project is a world-scale integrated polymers complex in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar.

The project financing comprises commercial and Islamic lenders and a group of export credit agencies.

Ras Laffan Petrochemicals is a joint venture company owned 30% by Chevron Phillips Chemical and 70% by QatarEnergy, the statement added.

The project is considered the largest petrochemical project in Qatar for which the Final Investment Decision was announced in January 2023.

“This oversubscribed financing package is an important testament to the financial community’s confidence in Qatar and in its energy and petrochemical industries,” said Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and CEO of QatarEnergy Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi.

Al-Kaabi added: “This large-scale cornerstone investment represents a significant achievement and a major milestone for the Ras Laffan Petrochemicals project - the largest in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world. We are very pleased to enter this exciting stage of this project with our long-time partner Chevron Phillips Chemical.”

The complex, expected to begin production in late 2026, consists of an ethane cracker with a capacity of about 2.1 million tons of ethylene per annum.

It also includes two polyethylene trains with a combined output of 1.7 million tons per annum of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) polymer products, which are used in a wide range of applications, including packaging, construction, and consumer goods.

This complex will raise Qatar’s overall petrochemical production capacity to almost 14 million tons per annum.

The project is expected to generate significant economic benefits for the country, including increased tax revenue and foreign investment.

The two companies signed in January agreements to build the $6 billion complex.



Russia is Using Bitcoin, Digital Currencies in Foreign Trade

FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
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Russia is Using Bitcoin, Digital Currencies in Foreign Trade

FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman passes by the Bitcoin Monument after bitcoin soared above $100,000, in Ilopango, El Salvador, December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo

Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in international payments following legislative changes that allowed such use in order to counter Western sanctions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

Sanctions have complicated Russia's trade with its major partners such as China or Türkiye, as local banks are extremely cautious with Russia-related transactions to avoid scrutiny from Western regulators, according to Reuters.

This year, Russia permitted the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade and has taken steps to make it legal to mine cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. Russia is one of the global leaders in bitcoin mining.

“As part of the experimental regime, it is possible to use bitcoins, which we had mined here in Russia (in foreign trade transactions),” Siluanov told Russia 24 television channel.

“Such transactions are already occurring. We believe they should be expanded and developed further. I am confident this will happen next year,” he said, adding that international payments in digital currencies represent the future.

Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said that the current US administration was undermining the role of the US dollar as the reserve currency by using it for political purposes, forcing many countries to turn to alternative assets.

He singled out bitcoin as an example of such assets, saying that no-one in the world could regulate bitcoin. Putin's remarks indicated that the Russian leader backs the extensive use of cryptocurrencies.