Ex-Im Bank Finances Large Petrochemical Complex in Qatar
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has approved a $263 million loan guarantee to support the export of equipment and engineering services by Technip USA Corp. of Claremont, Calif. , Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP of The Woodlands, Texas , and other U.S. suppliers for the Q Chem II Petrochemical Project in Qatar.
The project company is Qatar Chemical Company II Ltd. The project sponsors are Qatar Petroleum and Chevron Phillips Chemical International Qatar Holdings LLC, the same companies that developed the existing Q-Chem I Project in 2003.
Ex-Im Bank, the only export credit agency participating in the project, will guarantee a loan from Royal Bank of Scotland . A consortium of private banks also will contribute financing to the project. The Ex-Im Bank financing is structured as limited recourse project finance, with repayment based on project revenues.
This project will create and sustain skilled U.S. jobs and support Qatar's economic development, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman Philip Merrill. Ex-Im Bank has financed a number of projects to develop Qatar's oil and gas sector, and we look forward to supporting U.S. exports to other sectors of the Qatari economy as well.
Qatar Chemical Company II will build an ethylene cracker in Ras Laffan that will convert ethane to ethylene, a large integrated petrochemical facility in Mesaieed to process the ethylene into high-density polyethylene and normal alpha olefin products, and a pipeline to transport the ethylene to the petrochemical facility.
Ex-Im Bank, the official export credit agency of the United States, is in its 71st year of helping finance the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export credit insurance and direct loans. In fiscal year 2004, Ex-Im Bank authorized financing to support $17.8 billion of U.S. exports worldwide. For more information, visit www.exim.gov, or call 1-800-565-EXIM (3946) and press 2 for the nearest Ex-Im Bank regional office.