With the aim of facilitating liquefied petroleum gas as well as other petrochemical products 17 LPG carriers have recently been added to Iran's fleet to fill the big gap between the low number of ships and the large amount of goods to be exported, the oil minister's advisor on strategic affairs said.
"Due to the lack of ships, petrochemical exports were subject to constraints," Mohammad Souri said, adding that in less than two years and with the help of President Hassan Rouhani's administration, 17 carriers joined the fleet and resulted in export acceleration, Shana reported on Monday.
According to the official prior to purchasing the new ships, there were as few as eight carriers deemed too small to handle the substantial amount of exports.
Asked about the buyer of the ships, the advisor noted that five out of 17 have been procured by the National Iranian Oil Company and the remainder has been purchased by the private sector.
Hassan Khosrojerdi, the head of Petrochemical, Gas and Oil Exporters' Union, had already expressed concern that Iran's small LPG fleet had led to export reduction. Iran's LPG is exported to India, Pakistan, China and Africa.
LPG also referred to as simply propane or butane, are flammable mixtures of hydrocarbon gases used as fuel by heating appliances, cooking equipment and vehicles.
An LPG carrier is a gas carrier transporting liquefied petroleum gas in bulk.
