Qatar’s Laffan Refinery Co has awarded an engineering design contract for the expansion of its Ras Laffan refinery to France’s Technip, operator Qatargas said on Thursday.
The planned expansion will double the refinery’s capacity to 292,000 bpd (barrels per day) and is expected to be fully operational by the first quarter of 2016, Qatargas said in a statement, without giving a value for the deal.
“The second phase of Laffan refinery supports the State of Qatar vision to improve product distribution domestically and fully complies with international customers’ demands for cleaner fuel products, allowing Qatar to become a net exporter of diesel and other refined products instead of an importer,” vice-chairman of Laffan Refinery Co Khalid Bin Khalifa Al-Thani said in the statement.
Qatar aims to supply petrochemical industries across Southeast Asia and Europe, al-Thani said.
