Qatar has started construction of a 146,000 barrels per day (bpd) condensate refinery in Ras Laffan Industrial City at a cost of $800 million with the planned start-up date expected by the third quarter of 2008, the company said.

The shareholders of the Laffan Refinery, which will be managed by the Qatargas Operating Company, are Qatar Petroleum with 80 per cent and ExxonMobil and Total each with 10 per cent.
The condensate feedstock will be sourced by Qatargas, RasGas I, II and Al-Khaleej Gas and the refinery will produce 61,000 barrels per day (bpd) of naphtha, 51,560 bpd of kerojet, 23,610 bpd of gasoil and 9,529 bpd of liquefied petroleum gas.
A consortium of GS Engineering and Construction Corp and Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co from Korea won the engineering, procurement and construction contract in April 2005.
“This facility, when completed, will contribute towards meeting several objectives while meeting world demand for refined products such as naphtha, kerosene, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas,” Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah Al Attiyah was quoted by the official Qatari news agency as saying at the ground laying ceremony.
Attiyah said most of the refinery’s production would be for export, but some would be used as feedstock for the local aromatics industry, for which the world’s largest aromatics plant is to be built at Mesaieed and another is being planned at Ras Laffan Industry City.