State-owned upstream operator Qatar Petroleum (QP) has extended supply of 1,000 metric tonnes of ethane to four petrochemical companies, a few weeks after it announced plans to ramp up its gas production.

Agreements were signed with Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO), Q-Chem 1, Q-Chem 2 and Qatofin to supply the feedstock, which will add to an increase of approximately 10 per cent to base quantities.

QAPCO, whose shareholders are QP and France’s Total is the world’s largest producer of low-density polyethylene. Q-Chem 1 and Q-Chem 2 are both subsidiaries of Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company and produce high and medium density polyethylene and olefins respectively. Qatofin - a venture between QAPCO, Total and QP - produces linear low-density polyethylene. 

Extending additional supply of ethane would help these firms reach maximum capacity AT their facilities and improve efficiency and profitability, QP said in a statement.

Qatar ended its moratorium on the North Field and announced plans to boost gas production capacity by two billion cubic feet a day.

A revival of Qatar’s North Field development is likely to boost its petrochemical industry, which saw some consolidation over the last year.

As oil prices began their downward slide in 2015, Qatar’s plans for petrochemicals expansion through the $6.4bn Al-Karaana complex - a venture between QP and Shell - was cancelled.