Phillips 66 CEO defends business dealings with Qatar despite nation's ties to Hamas

Andy Dossett, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise
·2 min read
Mark Lashier, CEO of Phillips 66, speaks at the Chamber of Commerce form at City church on Tuesday.
Mark Lashier, CEO of Phillips 66, speaks at the Chamber of Commerce form at City church on Tuesday.

Phillips 66 CEO Mark Lashier defended his company's business dealings with Qatar Tuesday after he was asked about the country's connections to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

He was the guest speaker at the Bartlesville Regional Chamber of Commerce forum.

"I'm not an expert on politics, but I would say Qatar tends to play a role more akin to what Switzerland does and tries to bring parties together to resolve things," said Lashier. "I would hesitate to call the state of Qatar a supporter of Hamas."

Over the weekend, some 1,000 Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, resulting in more than 1,000 fatalities, including 14 Americans. In response, Israel declared war against Hamas and launched airstrikes and an offensive in Gaza.

Following the terrorist attacks, Qatar announced in a statement that it "holds Israel solely responsible for the ongoing escalation due to its ongoing violation of the rights of the Palestinian people."

But Lashier claims Qatar has a propensity to broker conversations and negotiations, even between factions of diametrically opposing viewpoints.

"I was in a hotel in Qatar when a group of Taliban came through and they weren't there because the state of Qatar supported the Taliban," Lashier said. "There was also a group of special forces negotiators and they're meeting with the Taliban trying to resolve the situation in Afghanistan."

"[Qatar} is not big enough to start a war with anybody, but they certainly have the capability to bring opposite sides together to try to resolve things," Lashier added.

CPChem, a joint venture between Phillips 66 and Chevron, and QatarEnergy, a state-owned petroleum company of Qatar, jointly invested $14.5 billion across two key projects — one in the U.S. Gulf Coast and another in Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City.

The project is poised to significantly amplify ethylene and polyethylene production to meet growing global needs for products like packaging for food and medical supplies and pipes for gas and water delivery.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Phillips 66 CEO defends business deals with Qatar despite Hamas ties