Business & Finance Club - Doha : Qatar celebrated the achievement of another milestone in the development of the petrochemical sector when Qatofin exported 4,500 metric tonnes of ethylene from the Ras Lafan Olefins Company (RLOC).

The ethylene was shipped via NORGAS, the ethylene shipping contractor.

Dr Mohammed Yousef Al Mulla, General Manager and Board Member of Qatofin, said: "This achievement is also an important event which could not have been realised without the hard work and close coordination of all shareholders especially Q-Chem."

Qatofin is a joint venture between Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) (63 percent), Total Petrochemicals of France (36 percent) and Qatar Petroleum (one percent) and is designed to produce 450,000 metric tonnes per year of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE).

The feed stock ethylene required for the LLDPE unit will be supplied from the 1.3 MTA world's largest single Ethylene Cracker in Ras Laffan Industrial City. The plant started commercial operation and export of LLDPE in May this year.

The cracker is owned by Ras Laffan Olefins Company (RLOC), a joint venture between Qatofin with 45.7 percent stake, Q-Chem (II) (53.3 percent) and QP (one percent).

The produced ethylene will be sent through a 133km pipeline from RLOC to Qatofin and Q Chem II.

Both Qatofin and RLOC Projects were designed with a view to optimising the utilisation of ethane gas feed stock that will be made available as a result of further development of the country's gas resources, combining the interests of the existing petrochemical investors in Qatar to create one of the world's largest ethane cracker and maximizing economies of scale, and developing industrial synergies with other petrochemical ventures in the country and achieving Qatar vision of 2030.