BEIJING: QatarEnergy plans to more than double its capacity for plastics raw materials globally as it sees big growth in the chemical industry, Chief Executive Saad al-Kaabi said on Wednesday.

The state-owned company expects its U.S. ethane cracker project to start production in the first quarter of 2027, he told the World Gas Conference.

The project, a joint venture with Chevron Phillips Chemical, had been expected to begin operations in 2026, according to the U.S. company's website. It will include a 2.08 million metric tons per year (tpy) ethane cracker and two 1 million tpy high-density polyethylene units.

Ethane is a byproduct of shale gas production. More petrochemical producers globally are building ethane crackers or reconfiguring their plants to process more ethane to reduce costs and capitalise on rising U.S. supplies as they face thin margins and global oversupply.

Qatar, one of the world's three largest exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG), expects its North Field East natural gas expansion project to begin production in mid-2026, he said, repeating comments on the timeline he made in a statement on Tuesday.

Gas is needed for industry, for power, for chemicals, for food, Kaabi said, adding that gas is going to be the backbone for the next century for all societies around the world.

"Anyone who's burning fuel oil or diesel for power can easily make the conversion from a cost perspective to gas," he said.

(Reporting by Colleen Howe; Writing by Florence Tan; Editing by Tom Hogue and Christian Schmollinger)