Stable supply of natural gas as feedstock to petrochemical plants will continue as schedule, production manager of the National Petrochemical Company said.
"Unlike last winter when some petrochemical plants had to be shut down due to lack of feedstock, natural gas in sufficient volumes from South Pars Gas Field will now keep all petrochemical companies in full operational condition," Qodratollah Farajpour was quoted as saying by NIPNA, the company’s news service.
The plants will not stop working unless when necessary for periodic overhaul or technical problems that may arise, he said.
Natural gas consumption in the household sector rises notably in winter as a result of which industries get less fuel. "That will not be the case anymore,"
Close to 580 million cubic meters of gas per day is extracted from the giant South Pars Gas Field, he said, adding that the launch of phases 13 and 22-24 will help boost gas production and there will be excess feedstock in 2020. Plans are in place to produce as much as 1 billion cubic meters on a daily basis in the next two years.
He said the surplus will either be exported or used in olefin production units under construction in Asalouyeh, Bushehr Province.
Increase in Revenue
The official added that NPC's annual output is 52 million tons and will reach 70 million tons/year by 2020. Likewise, the $12 billion annual revenue is forecast to double.
According to NPC data, petrochemical companies exported 15.5 million tons of goods including polymers worth $7.5 billion in the first half of the fiscal that ends in March. The figures show 9.5% and 24% growth in volume and value respectively, compared to the same period last year.
Referring to the final stages of the construction of two petrochemical plants that would complete the petrochemical value-chain, and programs to boost output at two other companies, Farajpour said, “it is forecast that by the end of this fiscal petrochemical output will reach 54 million tons”.
Kaveh Petrochemical Complex, 120km west of Asalouyeh near the Persian Gulf, will go on stream in February and produce methanol and other downstream products.
When fully operational, the plant’s daily methanol output will be 7,000 tons, or 3.2 million tons per annum, which will make it the largest of its kind in Iran and one of the biggest in the world.
Bushehr Petrochemical Complex, with 1.65 million tons capacity for methanol production, is also expected to come on stream by March.
