Qatar Petroleum Plans to Spend $535 Million on Soon to be World's Largest Fertilizer Complex

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Researched by Industrial Information Resources, Inc; Houston, Texas). Qatar Petroleum Corporation (Doha, Qatar) and Norsk Hydro ASA (Oslo, Norway) (NYSE:NHY) have approved construction of the $535 million Urea Unit and awarded Krupp Uhde (Dortmund, Germany) (TKAG.DE) the contract to construct a massive urea unit in Messaieed, Qatar called `Qafco IV`. When completed, the new unit will produce 3,200 tons per day of urea and 2,000 tons per day of ammonia. These capacity expansions will make Qafco the world's largest fertilizer complex. Krupp Uhde expects to commence construction in October of 2001 with completion scheduled for the second half of 2004.

Qatar Petroleum is a state owned company established in 1974 and responsible for all phases of the oil and gas industry in Qatar. Qatar Petroleum exports urea and ammonia to more than 25 countries.

Norsk Hydro is an industrial company based on the use of natural resources, with the aim of meeting needs for food, energy and materials. The company has over 38,000 employees operating in more than 60 countries.