The Al-Karaana Petrochemicals Complex has received applications from 43 contractors hoping to prequalify for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for its planned $6.4bn petrochemicals project at Ras Laffan in Qatar. Al-Karaana is the new name for the petrochemicals joint venture of Qatar Petroleum (QP) and the UK/Dutch Shell Group at Ras Laffan. Contractors interested in bidding had until May 30 to express an interest. "Due to its size there has been a lot of interest from contractors looking to win work on this project," says a hydrocarbons industry source familiar with the project. Al-Karaana has decided to execute the scheme on a two-package strategy. This will involve the project being split into two contracts divided in the following way: MEED reported in March that the US' Fluor had been awarded the front-end engineering and design (feed) for the three packages using Shell technology, as well as the offsites and utilities.