The cost of the project has been estimated at $540m and it is expected to go on stream in some 42 months from now. Quoting Qatar News Agency (QNA), the daily said yesterday the Qatar Fuel Additives Company (Qafac) was working closely with state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corporarion of Taiwan to set up a $540m methanol plant to be located in Qatar. The Taiwanese company is one of the founding stake holders in Qafac. The proposed facility would be the world's largest methanol plant with an yearly capacity of two million tonnes. The world's largest methanol plant is in Trinidad with annual production capacity of 1.7 mtpa, said QNA. Methanol, which is a major feedstock for chemical industries, is produced from methane. Chinese Petroleum Corporation's vice-chairman, chu Chou Hua was quoted by QNA as saying that the methanol produced from the new plant would be mainly marketed in China and tge Far East where demand was growing at a "very" fast pace. Qafac's methanol production capacity is 830,000 tonnes a year and it exports over 600,000 tonnes annually. Some 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the financing for the project is yet to be organised. The Chinese Petroleum Corporation was likely to have a six per cent participation in the project cost. A German company had been awarded engineering contracts for the project, the daily said. PIN//The Peninsula