Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) and Japan's Itochu Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work on joint ventures in oil, gas and petrochemicals. Itochu, Japan's fourth-largest trading firm, holds a 4 per cent stake in trains one and two of the Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company (RasGas) liquefied natural gas processing facility, which produces an annual output of 6.6 million tonnes.