Doha, Qatar – Qatar Petroleum (QP) has signed a joint venture agreement with Total, Idemitsu, Cosmo, Marubeni and Mitsui for the new Laffan Refinery 2 (LR2) Project.

The new LR2 condensate refinery is similar to the first Laffan Refinery (LR1), which started operations in 2009, with a similar processing capacity of 146,000 barrels per day. Construction of the new $1.5 billion project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2016.

The site will be operated by Qatargas Operating Co. Ltd (Qatargas) and will have a daily production capacity of 60,000 barrels of naphtha, 53,000 barrels of jet fuel, 24,000 barrels of gasoil, and 9,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Under the JV agreement, the LR2 ownership structure will be composed of QP (84%), Total (10%), Idemitsu (2%), Cosmo (2%), Marubeni (1%) and Mitsui (1%).

The project is part of Qatar’s plans to better exploit its hydrocarbon resources and expand its industrial base, including by expanding and developing the country's condensate processing, refining and export capacities.

The new refinery will give Ras Laffan a total installed condensate refining capacity of about 300,000 barrels per day, making it one of the largest single site facilities of its kind in the world.

A currently under construction diesel hydrotreater (DHT) expected to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2014, will have enough capacity to process all the light gasoil from both LR1 and LR2 into ultra-low-sulphur diesel.