Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Qatar Petroleum International, a unit of the emirate’s state-run oil company, plans to build two petrochemical plants costing about $9.8 billion in Asia by 2015 to tap demand in the world’s fastest-growing region.

Qatar will partner Cnooc Ltd. and a Chinese petrochemicals maker to construct a $5.8 billion plant in China’s Hainan province, Chief Executive Officer Nasser al-Jaidah said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday. Another project in Vietnam will cost as much as $4 billion and both ventures will use Qatari liquefied petroleum gas to produce chemicals, he said.

“There is huge potential for growth in Asia, especially China,” al-Jaidah said. “We can hit two birds with one stone -- tap the markets and exit our product,” he said, without disclosing Qatar’s share of investment in the venture.

The Middle Eastern country is investing in Asia as it seeks new markets for its LPG output that may double to 12 million metric tons by 2010. Qatar Petroleum International last week agreed to buy stakes in Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s two petrochemical ventures in Singapore. China National Offshore Oil Corp. agreed this month to purchase an additional 3 million tons of Qatari liquefied natural gas a year.

Asian “energy demand is probably going to grow fast, as much as Europe or the U.S.,” said Tony Regan, a consultant with Singapore-based Tri-Zen International Ltd. “They probably feel they have to have access to this rapidly growing market.”

Hainan Project

The Hainan plant will have a processing capacity of about 3.8 million tons of LPG a year and may be approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, in the second half of next year, al-Jaidah said.

Cnooc spokesman Xiao Zongwei said he isn’t aware of any petrochemical investment in Hainan by the Beijing-based company.

The Hainan project will be capable of producing chemicals such as polypropylene, used in tires, shoes and plastic products, al-Jaidah said.

To build the plant in Vietnam, Qatar has begun preliminary talks with Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, known as PetroVietnam, Itochu Corp. and companies in Thailand that al-Jaidah didn’t name.

An Itochu spokeswoman, who declined to be named because of company policy, said the Tokyo-based trading house may join the project.

Itochu Corp. fell 0.2 percent to 606 yen at 12:33 p.m. in Tokyo. Cnooc declined as much as 1.3 percent to HK$12.58 in Hong Kong, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 0.4 percent.

Qatar Petroleum International will bid next month to construct a gas-fired power plant in Oman, together with Qatar Electricity & Water Co., Chubu Electric Power Co. and Marubeni Corp., al-Jaidah said.

Marubeni spokesman Yo Nomura said the company is considering participating in the power project. He declined to comment whether Marubeni will bid with Qatar. Chubu Electric’s spokesman Toshimitsu Shibata declined to comment on the joint bid for the power plant.