Petrochemical output is to rise by 14 million tons upon the completion of 12 major projects in the present Iranian year (started March 2015), Deputy Oil Minister Abbas Shari-Moghadam said, Mehr news agency reported Wednesday.
He said these projects - including Marvdasht, Takht-e-Jamshid, Hegmataneh and Karoun petrochemical complexes as well as Phase 2 of Kavian Petrochemical Plant, Pardis Petrochemical Plant Phase 3 and Morvarid Petrochemical Complex - are to be finished by March 2016.
According to estimates, annual petrochemical output will surpass 66 million tons by the end of the year. Iran produced more than 44 million tons of petrochemicals in the past year. In addition, yearly ethane production capacity is to expand by 2 million tons when phases 15-18 of the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf are fully launched this year.
Highlighting Kavian Plant as the biggest ethylene production unit in the world, Shari-Moghadam reiterated the launch of the plant's Phase 2 will raise its ethylene output to more than 2 million tons per year.
In addition, Iran aims at exporting $5 billion of petrochemicals to Europe per annum should the trade sanctions be lifted, according to the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporation (APIC).
The country on average generated $2 billion a year through exporting petrochemical products to the EU states in the pre-sanctions era, yet that could double upon the completion of several incomplete projects.
