Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) has hosted two senior officials from Total, who were on a courtesy visit to Qatar to strengthen the two companies’ long-term partnership.
Xavier Bontemps, senior vice-president (Polymers Business Unit) at Total, and Philippe Montagne, vice-president, PolyOlefins Orient at Total Refining & Chemicals, visited state-of-the-art facilities in Mesaieed Industrial City run by Qapco and sister company, Qatofin.
They also toured Qapco’s major assets: an ethane cracker with a capacity of 720,000 tonnes per year (tpy) and three low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plants with a combined capacity of more than 700,000 tpy.
Qapco said the visit builds on the long-term partnership of the two companies, which helped develop Qatar’s petrochemical industry and strengthened synergies between the upstream and chemicals branches of the Total Group.
Total has worked together with Qapco since 1974, consolidating its presence in the Middle East while expanding polyolefin markets, particularly in Asia. Their partnership is believed to have played a key role in the diversification of Qatar’s economy.
Through its participation in Qapco, Total helped launch Qatofin, a company established to develop two projects, including one of the world’s largest ethane crackers — the Ras Laffan Olefins Company (RLOC). The cracker was designed to produce 1.3mn tpy of ethylene.
Dr Philippe Vindevoghel, managing director (Refining & Chemicals — Qatar) and board director of Qapco, said: “We forged our strong history with Qapco more than 40 years ago and together we were able to contribute in shaping Qatar’s downstream sector. This is a real pride for us that lays the basis of future developments in Qatar.”
Total has been present in Qatar for almost 80 years and is the only international oil company active in all branches of Qatar’s oil and gas sector, including exploration and production, refining and petrochemicals, and the marketing of lubricants.
Total senior executives join Qapco officials during their courtesy visit to Qatar.
