Iran's Oil Pension Fund Investment Company will invest close to $2.5 billion in Dehloran Petrochemical Complex in the western Ilam Province to accelerate completion of value-chain projects in the region, the head of the firm said.
“The long-term investment is expected to generate revenues for the fund to help it meet a part of its financial demands,” Abdolhossein Bayat was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news portal Shana.
Iran is expanding its petrochemical industry to generate more revenue from chemicals and petrochemicals that offer higher value-added compared to the sale of crude oil and natural gas, he added.
“The construction of three units to produce high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene and propylene has begun at the complex.”
The HDPE and LDPE units will have a production capacity of 300,000 tons per year and the propylene unit will produce 150,000 tons per annum.
The projects are to be completed in three years.
The petrochemical complex is being built 15 km southeast of Dehloran County.
Located near Iraq’s border, the plant is also designed to produce pyrolysis gasoline and diesel. NGL 3100 or Dehloran natural gas processing plant will feed Dehloran Petrochemical Complex with natural gas.
The Dehloran venture is part of a drive to complete the value chain in the downstream petrochemical industry. The plant will bolster the region’s economy by creating dozens of jobs.
With a population of around 66,000, Dehloran is home to an oilfield that went on stream about 40 years ago.
Alay Mahestan Petrochem
Bayat announced that the construction of Alay Mahestan Petrochemical Company in Asalouyeh has registered 30% progress.
“The project, which includes the construction of a Propane Dehydrogenation [PDH] unit, a Polypropylene [PP] unit and a utility unit, is expected to progress by 64% by the end of the current Iranian year [March 2024],” he said.
“Currently, the propane produced in the upstream sector is sold in raw form. If we can convert propane into propylene, we will create a higher added value.”
The official noted that two foreign companies had the knowhow of converting propane to propylene, but it was not possible to get the license for the PDH unit due to the sanctions.
“Therefore, domestic knowledge-based companies did their best to indigenize its knowhow,” he said.
According to Bayat, after propane is converted to propylene and in the next step to polypropylene, the added value of this product rises to approximately twice the price of propane.
“Each ton of propane is sold in the Persian Gulf market for around $600, but each ton of polypropylene fetches more than $1,300,” he said.
