Iran sets $93bn-target for investment in petrochemical sector
Iranian authorities say size of investment in downstream sections of the oil and gas industry, where petrochemicals are produced and marketed, would reach $93 billion by 2025.
Head of the National Petrochemical Company of Iran Behzad Mohammadi said on Sunday that the country had extensive plans for expansion of refining and petrochemical activity, adding that government and private investment in the sector would top 70 billion in the next two years.
The official made the remarks in a speech on the opening of Iran Plast, a leading annual fair meant for showcasing the country’s potentials and capabilities in the petchem sector.
Mohammadi said Iran would increase the number of its petrochemical complexes to 83, from the current 56, by early 2022, adding that both production and the feed used for those complexes would significantly diversify in the coming years.
A senior Iranian petchem official says annual exports have topped 22.5 tons in volume terms.
He said the proportion of gas to liquefied feed burnt in the refineries would change from the current 77-23 to 86-14 by 2025, mainly thanks to plans for collecting flared gas at oil and gas facilities.
The official said Iran had invested around half a billion dollars in research and development for manufacturing catalysts used in the refining process, adding that 16 groups of high-tech devices needed in the industry were currently produced inside Iran and a group of nine others were expected to be covered by the domestic production by 2022.
Mohammadi estimated that jobs created in Iran’s petrochemical sector, including those on the supply chain, was around one million, adding that around 880,000 people were currently working in 15,000 enterprises active in the industry’s downstream section.
END