A deputy oil minister said on Wednesday 8 million tons can be added to Iran’s total petrochemical output by March 2017 once the projects underway become operational and this will not require new plans.
"The country’s goal is to raise revenues by $4 billion from the petrochemical industry by launching semi-complete projects," Marzieh Shahdaei, managing director of National Petrochemical Company, also told ISNA.
"Some of these petrochemical units are under construction, others are ready for operation and the rest will become operational by the end of the current Iranian year (ending March 20, 2017)," she said.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh last month said Iran’s annual petrochemical output will be worth $40 billion by 2021, which marks the end of the sixth five-year development plan (2016-21).
“To reach the goal, Iran needs an investment of $50 billion,” he said.
Shahdaei noted that the total number of petrochemical projects underway is 10 units, adding that apart from this, NPC has comprehensive plans, including starting the development of new petrochemical complexes that use gas feedstock, for the next Iranian year.
The country is developing 55 major projects, with 10 production units expected to go on stream by March 2017, adding at least 7 million tons to the annual output.
With a nominal production capacity of 60 million tons, Iran's petrochemical output reached 44 million tons in the last Iranian year.
West Ethylene Pipeline
On the status of the West Ethylene Pipeline, Shahdaei said the pipeline’s volume of gas delivery to the petrochemical units in the region is proportionate and added that the trivial shortage of feedstock will be alleviated with the launch of new phases of South Pars Gas Field by March 2017.
Initiated in 2002, the 2,450-kilometer pipeline will carry ethylene from Asaluyeh to the western provinces of Khuzestan, Lorestan, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad, Kermanshah, Kurdestan and West Azarbaijan.
Some petrochemical plants, including Arvand, Qadir, Rejal, Amir Kabir, Lorestan, Ilam, Mahabad and Kermanshah, have been earlier connected to the pipeline.
The pipeline is expected to supply feedstock to more than 11 petrochemical plants.
She also announced that four ethylene units as well as new branches of the West Ethylene Pipeline are due to go on stream by the end of the current year.
Shahdaei stressed that the new ethylene units will be supplied by the pipeline until their olefin units become operational.
About the feedstock shortage in the second phase of Kavian Petrochemical Corporation, the NPC chief attributed the problem to the previous administration, saying that the last government did not launch enough phases in the South Pars, which resulted in a two-year delay in the operation of the second phase of the complex that needs ethane feedstock.
"The government has to develop new phases to supply feedstock to the petrochemical complexes," Shahdaei added.
According to Shana, she also referred to the permit issued by the Economy Council for investing in and setting up a 120,000-ton methanol-to-propylene company and noted that the complex’s capacity will be raised by 500,000 tons in cooperation with the German chemical and construction company Lurgi AG.
Plans call for increasing the production of propylene by 3 million tons per annum.
“NPC is in talks with foreign companies for attracting investment and receiving cutting-edge technology,” Shahdaei said.
"NPC acts as a mediator between foreign companies and Oil Ministry by introducing investment opportunities in Iran’s petrochemical industry and informing the companies’ opinions and proposals to the ministry."
Mohammad Hassan Peyvandi, acting director of NPC, earlier told Mehr News Agency that petrochemical production will exceed 120 million tons by 2020, adding that based on projections, the capacity can be expanded by as much as 180 million tons per year by 2025.
