Qatar Daily News

Exxon Mobil Corp and Qatar Petroleum have agreed to build a $6 billion plant in the Middle East country to produce chemicals for export to Asia.

The project will be completed by 2015, the companies said today at a press conference in Doha, Qatar.

Exxon will hold a 49 percent stake in the plant, which will have a 1.6 million ton a year steam cracker. Other units include two 650,000 ton a year polyethylene plants and a 700,000 ton ethylene glycol plant

The Qatar project will help Exxon increase chemical production capacity in the Middle East 50 percent in the next six years, said Stephen Pryor, president of Exxon Mobil Chemical Co.
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Australian outfit Neptune Marine is primed to start a $20 million combined services subsea inspection contract for Qatargas, the company’s first major project in the Middle East.

The three year deal, which is due to start early in the new year, covers the inspection of Qatargas platforms, offshore pipelines and subsea connection facilities which lie in the Arabian Gulf.

Under the terms of the contract, Neptune will provide a dynamically positioned (DP II) vessel bundled with a range of services including ROVs, hydrographic survey, diving and pipeline stabilisation.
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Qatar is on track to open its new $14 billion international airport in 2011 as the world’s largest gas exporter looks to diversify government revenues and stimulate employment, an official said on Sunday.

Speaking at an aviation conference in Doha, Qatar, the chairman of the country’s civil aviation authority said the new airport would have capacity for 24 million passengers and cargo of 1.4 million tonnes a year.

“The new $14 billion airport will be over 22 kilometres and open in 2011,” Adul Aziz Al Noaimi said.

Qatar has been pouring billions of dollars into infrastructure development to diversify the economy away from hydrocarbons, help propel itself on the international arena and become a transport hub between Europe and Asia.
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With Qatar Airways and other leading airlines going on an expansion spree, Qatar will need 1,200 pilots by 2013, making the demand for commercial pilots surge, said an official of an aviation institution visiting Doha.

“Qatar Airways is expecting delivery of 182 aircraft by 2013 bringing the total number of operating aircraft to 250,” noted Amit Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer of Texas-based Supreme Aviation Worldwide, adding that delivery of around 500 new aircraft may be expected by airline companies in the region in the next four years. “Deliveries of aircraft to airline companies around the world are on hold because of shortage of pilots,” Agarwal, who is a commercial pilot himself, told aspiring aviators during a seminar, held at the Movenpick Tower and Suites yesterday.

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Transfield Services Ltd. (TSE.AU) said Thursday that its joint venture with WorleyParsons Ltd. (WOR.AU) has a US$100 million contract for maintenance and other work with RasGas in Qatar.

The work is a two-year extension of the joint venture’s existing contract, which has been expanded to include shutdowns, bringing its total value of work with RasGas to US$117 million, the Sydney-based company said in a statement.

RasGas is a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum, which holds a 70% stake, and ExxonMobil, which has a 30% interest, to operate liquified natural gas facilities in the Middle Eastern state.

According to Qatar daily The Peninsula the starting price for the IPO is QR10 per share with an additional AED25 levied as service charges.

The move will see the telecommunications company sell off 40 percent of its authorised share capital, with a total of 338.16 million ordinary shares on offer.

Subscribers can collect application forms and prospectus from 12 banks in the country – with the Qatar National Bank (QNB) and HSBC acting as joint lead managers, financial advisors as well as acting as the lead receiving banks.

Only Qatari residents, and 100 percent Qatari-owned companies are eligible to subscribe to the primary offer.
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Qatar Airways has expanded its operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by increasing frequency between Doha and Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam.

On the Dammam route, five flights per week have been added to the schedule, bringing the total frequency on the route to 12 services each week. The new early morning departures from Dammam on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays offer passengers excellent connections to the new mid-morning long-haul service to Houston in Texas, which Qatar Airways is launching on 30 March.

The capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Riyadh is being served with two additional flights a week, taking weekly capacity up to five services.

Two extra flights have also been introduced between Doha and Jeddah, a route previously served with five flights each week.
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Qatar Telecom (Qtel) Q.S.C. (“Qtel”) today announced the expiration and preliminary results of its concurrent tender offers, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Indonesia Communications Pte. Ltd., to acquire Series B Shares of PT Indosat Tbk. (IDX: ISAT; NYSE: IIT), an Indonesian company (“Indosat” and, such shares, “Series B Shares”), pursuant to an Indonesian offer, and to acquire American Depositary Shares representing Series B Shares (“ADSs”) pursuant to a U.S. offer. The offers expired at 3:00 a.m., New York City time (which is 3:00 p.m., Jakarta time), on February 18, 2009. In the aggregate, Qtel had offered to purchase up to 1,314,466,775 Series B Shares (including Series B Shares underlying ADSs) in the offers, representing approximately 24.19% of the total issued and outstanding Series B Shares (including Series B Shares underlying ADSs) of Indosat.

Based on preliminary information provided by The Bank of New York Mellon, the ADS tender agent for the U.S. offer, and PT Danareksa Sekuritas, the share tender agent for the Indonesian offer, a total of approximately 17,705,799 ADSs were validly tendered into the U.S. offer and not withdrawn, and a total of approximately 1,439,620,500 Series B Shares were validly tendered into the Indonesian offer and not withdrawn, representing an aggregate of approximately 2,324,910,450 Series B Shares (including Series B Shares underlying ADSs). Each ADS represents fifty (50) Series B Shares. Because the number of Series B Shares (including Series B Shares underlying ADSs) tendered into the offers exceeds the aggregate number of Series B Shares that Qtel offered to purchase in the offers, the proration rules will apply pursuant to the terms of the offers. Qtel currently expects that the proration factor will be approximately 56.54%.
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United Fashion Company (UFC), a United Development Company subsidiary, today (Sunday, January 25) opens Gianfranco Ferré, the first in a series of luxury brands to be launched on The Pearl-Qatar in the coming weeks.

“This is a very exciting venture for us,” said Michela Piva, CEO of Gianfranco Ferré Spa: “The opening of this Gianfranco Ferré boutique reinforces our presence in the Middle East, a strategic area for the luxury goods industry. We chose The Pearl-Qatar because the Island represents the ideal environment for a luxury brand like ours. We are proud to have joined forces with UFC, the perfect partner for the expansion of our brand in this important market.”

Malik Awan, UFC general manager, said: “This is a very proud moment for the UFC team. UFC is making history with the opening of the first luxury store on the Island and the first Gianfranco Ferré in Qatar.

“The strength of the retail scene on The Pearl-Qatar lies in having both first and second line products of the same high-end designer in the same place.

“What makes The Pearl-Qatar unique is the way it has been designed to be a lifestyle experience, rather than simply a shopping mall. We are creating and inspiring the culture of designer brands, which is why, in a year, UFC managed to secure 10 major international brands and the promise of many more to come.”
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