Petrochemical production capacity will increase by 1.3 million tons by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20), deputy oil minister said Monday.
"Petrochemical production is expected to rise 8 million tons as the National Iranian Oil Company officials have pledged to supply the total ethane produced from South Pars phases to petrochemical complexes across country," Abbas Shari-Moqaddam was quoted by Shana news agency as saying. This, he said, will add at least two million tons to the petrochemical output of Assalouyeh region.
The 8-million ton increase, however, is subject to South Pars gas output increase as planned and also when 14 new petrochemical projects are completed. The projects, according to Shari-Moqaddam, will be implemented in the next four years in Khuzestan, Bushehr, East Azarbaijan, Hormozgan, Ardebil, Kohgiluyeh-Boyer Ahmad, Charmahal-Bakhtiari, and Fars provinces.
If nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group result in a deal, sanctions, including those restricting Iran's petrochemical exports, will be lifted. "In that case, and when financial restrictions are also eased by the West, our petrochemical production capacity will increase to 100 million tons from the current 60 million," said Shari-Moqaddam, who is also the managing director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC).
"Several major petrochemical projects, including West Ethylene, have been halted due to problems over land ownership rights," Shari-Moqaddam noted. He added that, presently, Iran is using only 70 percent of its petrochemical production capacity due to numerous problems, including lack of feedstock.
