TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s National Petrochemicals Company (NPC) said investment in the country’s petrochemical sector is going to increase by 75 percent by the end of the Iranian calendar year 1404 (March 2026), IRNA reported.

“So far, $53 billion has been invested in the country's petrochemical industry, and with the third leap in this sector, the number is going to increase to $93 billion by the [Iranian calendar] year of 1404, which means a 75-percent growth,” Behzad Mohammadi said in a conference on oil and energy in Tehran.

The official pointed to the country’s petrochemical industry as a stable and sustainable industry which has the second biggest share of the country’s economy, adding that any leap in this sector will lead to development in the downstream industries as well.

“With a 66-million-ton capacity, this industry receives about 33 million tons of oil and gas as feedstock annually, equivalent to 650,000 barrels of crude oil,” he said.

According to the official, there are currently 55 operating petrochemical complexes in the country, which will be increased to 83 complexes in two years and the consumed feedstock also increases to 62 million tons equivalent to 1.4 million barrels per year. 

“By the [Iranian calendar] year 1404, and with the third leap in the industry, the number of the petrochemical complexes will increase to 109, which are going to require 74 million tons of feedstock, that is equivalent to 1.7 million barrels of crude oil,” he added.

In late September, Director of NPC’s Projects Ali-Mohammad Bosaqzadeh had said that Iran's annual petrochemical output is planned to reach more than 100 million tons by the Iranian calendar year of 1400 and to 130 million tons or nearly doubled by 1404 (ends on March 2026).

Back in May, Mohammadi had also announced that NPC planned to complete 20 prioritized petrochemical projects across the country by the end of the Iranian calendar year of 1400.
According to the official, of the mentioned projects, three will be inaugurated by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2020).

Petrochemical industry is one of the most important pillars of Iran’s economy and one of the main suppliers of foreign currency especially euro for the country.

EF/MA