Doha: Exxon Mobil Corp. has decided with Qatar Petroleum to increase capacity at a planned petrochemicals plant, doubling the cost of the project, Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah said on Tuesday.
The plant, scheduled for completion in 2015, will cost an estimated $6 billion (Dh22 billion) to $7 billion, Al Attiyah said in Abu Dhabi.
That compares with an estimated $3 billion when Exxon and state-owned Qatar Petroleum began studying the project in 2006.
The site's proposed 1.6 million-tonne-a-year steam cracker is larger than originally envisaged, the minister said.
The facility will also include two 650,000-tonne polyethylene production units and a 700,000-tonne ethylene glycol plant.
Qatar and Exxon announced their decision to build the complex earlier this month.
Al Attiyah also said that Qatar Liquefied Gas Co's final two production units, QatarGas 3 and QatarGas 4, will begin operations in June and September, respectively.
