Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Iran’s petrochemical industry will be accounting for 6.2 percent of the total global petrochemical output by March 2025, head of Iran’s National Petrochemicals Company (NPC) Behzad Mohammadi has said, Iranian media reported.

Mohammadi made the remarks during the meeting of senior petrochemical executives in the northwestern city of Mashhad on November 12. As he told, Iran’s current share of global petrochemical production is nearly 3.6 percent.

Mohammadi further noted that there are currently 56 active petrochemical complexes across Iran, which receive 33 million tons of feedstock annually equal to 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

“By [the Iranian calendar year of] 1400 (starts in March 2021), the number of the petrochemical complexes will reach 83 and their feedstock consumption will increase to 62 million tons (equivalent to 1.4 million barrels per day).

He added that the number of operational plants in Iran would climb to 109 by 2025 which would consume an equivalent of 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil.

The head of NPC said that Iran’s annual petrochemical revenue reached $17 billion from only $200,000 back in 1979. He also said the sector's revenues would cross $37 billion per year by 2025.

Back in October, Mohammadi had estimated that investment in the country’s petrochemical sector is going to increase by 75 percent by the end of Iranian calendar year 1404.

“So far, $53 billion has been invested in the country's petrochemical industry, and with the third leap in this sector, the number is going to increase to $93 billion by the [Iranian calendar] year of 1404, which means a 75-percent growth,” he said in a conference on oil and energy in Tehran.

In late September, Director of NPC’s Projects Ali-Mohammad Bosaqzadeh said that Iran's annual petrochemical output is planned to exceed 100 million tons by the Iranian calendar year of 1400 and to 130 million tons or nearly doubled by 1404.

Iran ranks 4th in the world in terms of oil resources and has the second largest gas reserves in the world.

An important feature of Iran’s petrochemical industry is the country's excellent geographical location and good access to Asian and European markets, as well as free seas, which makes it easier and cheaper to export and transport.

Iran is the only state in the Middle East that produces large amount of necessary equipment for the petrochemical industry on its territory.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz