About 60 petrochemical production units, affiliated to the National Iranian Petrochemical Company, have been privatized, Deputy Oil Minister Abbas Sheri-Moqaddam said on Thursday.
The official was speaking in a conference on attracting investment in petrochemical industries in Kermanshah in western Iran.
"With a production capacity of 60 million tons of petrochemicals a year, the industrial units so far have generated $20 billion in revenues for NIPC until their privatization," Sheri-Moqaddam was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
"But NIPC only has development and policymaking duties," he added.
He noted that planning for the development of petrochemical industry, attracting investment and proposing facilitating regulations are other responsibilities of NIPC.
Noting the water-intensiveness of the petrochemical industry, Sheri-Moqaddam said Kermanshah Province has no problem in supplying water to manufacturing units as it is not experiencing drought.
Since Kermanshah is situated between two cold and warm regions, it enjoys a moderate and mountainous climate.
Sheri-Moqadam pointed to the suitable petrochemical products market and accessibility to export outlets as advantages of the province for investment attraction. The province shares border with the neighboring Iraq.
Iran's petrochemical output is planned to exceed 100 million tons per annum by 2018 from around 50 million tons a year at present, generating an estimated $40 billion in annual revenues. Iran, one of the world's top oil producers, exported around $14 billion worth of petrochemicals in 2014, down from more than $18 billion in 2011.
Annual petrochemical output in the previous two Iranian years accounted for 40.5 million tons and 44.5 million tons respectively.
According to official reports, Iran’s export of petrochemicals reached 2.48 million tons in March-September, bringing in $1.6 billion in revenues.
