Formed in 1990 to participate in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries, IOL was the original promoter of Qatar Fuel Additives Company Ltd (QAFAC), and remains a major shareholder in this company.

QAFAC’s state-of-the-art, US$700 million plant produces 850,000 tones of methanol per year and 600,000 tones of methyl tertiary butyl ether. The plant, located at Mesaieed in Qatar, was completed in 1999 and is one of the largest and most sophisticated of its kind in the world.

IOL actively pursues other ventures in the oil and gas sectors in the Middle East and North Africa in the exploration and enhanced recovery fields, as well as petrochemical and other downstream activities.