Five members of the ethylene club are prequalified for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) package and have now taken on board partners.

The package is expected to go for bid in March.

The prospective bidders are: US-based ABB Lummus Global,with Japan's Toyo Engineering Corporation; US-based Kellogg Brown & Root,with Chiyoda Corporation of Japan; Stone & Webster of the US, with JGC Corporation of Japan; Paris-based Technip-Coflexip; and Germany's Linde,with South Korea's Samsung Corporation.

The project is being managed by Qatar Chemical Company II (Q-Chem II) on behalf of the client, Ras Laffan Ethylene Company.

The package involves the construction of a 1.3 million-tonne-a-year cracker and an ethylene pipeline, which will run from the plant to Mesaieed.

The ethylene feedstock will be used by new polyethylene units at Mesaieed planned by Q-Chem II and the local/French joint venture Qatofin.