Qatar agreed to jointly build a $6 billion petrochemicals complex with Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) in January, however, the country said that it may choose a different partner for the project, according to an official at Qatar’s state-run Qatar Petroleum to Bloomberg.
The official said that Qatar Petroleum will select a partner that makes the best proposal and that the company has ended its agreement with Exxon Mobil and that it will be seeking new partners.
Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, declined to comment on the petrochemicals project when asked if the country would try to build the plant with a different partner. “I will tell you later,” he said.
The project would include a 1.6 million ton-per-year steam cracker, two 650,000-ton polyethylene plants and a 700,000-ton ethylene glycol plant. Construction was expected to be completed by 2015.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (Exxon Mobil) is a manufacturer and marketer of commodity petrochemicals, including olefins, aromatics, polyethylene and polypropylene plastics and a range of specialty products. It also has interests in electric power generation facilities. The Company has several divisions and hundreds of affiliates with names that include ExxonMobil, Exxon, Esso or Mobil. Divisions and affiliated companies of ExxonMobil operate or market products in the United States and other countries of the world. Their principal business is energy, involving exploration for, and production of, crude oil and natural gas, manufacture of petroleum products and transportation and sale of crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products. At December 31, 2009, approximately 7.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels (GOEB) of the Company’s reserves were classified as proved undeveloped, which represented 33% of the 23 GOEB reported in proved reserves.
Shares of XOM traded down 1.06% hitting $61.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday.
