The chief executives of Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem, The Woodlands, Texas / USA; www.cpchem.com) and Qatar Petroleum (QP, Doha; www.qp.com.qa) have met again not long after announcing a joint polyolefin complex in Qatar in late June – see Plasteurope.com of 27.06.2019. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s energy minister and QP president and CEO, travelled to the Washington, D.C. for the meeting. At the White House, he signed an agreement with CP Chem president and CEO Mark Lashier for another joint petrochemical project, this time located on the US Gulf Coast. There was political support from the highest levels – the Qatari and US heads of state attended the ceremony.

The “US Gulf Coast II” (USGC II) project includes an ethane cracker with a capacity for 2m t/y of ethylene, which is expected to be slightly larger than the one planned in Qatar at Ras Laffan. Downstream, there will be two lines installed for HDPE, each having a 1m t/y capacity. The US company will hold 51% of the joint venture and the Qatari company the remaining 49%. The final kick-off for CP Chem’s projected USD 8 bn project is expected in 2021. The facilities would then start operations in 2024.

An exact location has not been disclosed. According to Plasteurope.com’s Polyglobe database (www.polyglobe.net), CP Chem currently operates crackers on the US Gulf Coast in Texas at Cedar Bayou near Houston (over 2.3m t/y), Sweeny/Old Ocean (just under 2m t/y) and Port Arthur (800,000 t/y).