Currently between 2.6 and 3 billion euros is invested annually in petrochemical projects, notwithstanding, the figure has to reach 8 billion euros as stated in the 20-Year Vision Plan, deputy oil minister and managing director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) was quoted by Shana news agency as saying.
"We have to capitalize on our generated capacity standing at 60 million tons," Abbas Sheri-Moqaddam said Sunday, noting that 40 million tons have been utilized so far, but the remaining portion is still unexploited.
Several projects have had a progress of 60 percent, with the required machinery and appliances having been imported. However, they have remained uncompleted, mainly due to lack of finance, the official said, also making reference to the 2,700 km long West Ethylene Pipeline, which is expected to go operational by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2015).
A number of petrochemical projects due for completion in the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2011-2016) have now been postponed to the 6th plan (2016-2021). A total of 67 unfinished projects, with a capacity to yield 60 million tons, are yet to be completed.
January 19 marks the NPC's 50th founding anniversary. "The 50th anniversary is different than the 40th, seeing that the NPC used to be the basis for development of the petrochemical sector until a decade ago, but negligent privatization over the past decade has taken its toll on the NPC," Sheri-Moqaddam said.
West Ethylene Pipeline is the world's longest ethylene pipeline, designed to transport ethylene from Assaluyeh to manufacturers of downstream plastic products in Kermanshah Province in the western part of the country. It will have the capacity to transport 2.5 million metric tons of ethylene per annum.
Petrochemical output is projected to hit 100 million tons, valued at $20 billion, by 2017. Iran's petrochemical exports mainly include methanol, urea, polyethylene and aromatics.
