TEHRAN - Iran, as the third largest LPG producer in the world, is capable of exporting the product to African countries, acting head of international affairs at the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), Amirhoushang Karami, said.

Speaking at a specialized energy panel on the sidelines of the 2nd edition of the International Iran-Africa Economic Conference in Tehran, the NIGC’s official said that China, India, and Japan are the largest consumers of LPG in the world and several African countries including Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and South Africa respectively are the largest importers of the product.

According to him, high prices and lack of standard piers are the two main reasons behind low levels of LPG consumption in African countries.

Karami said: that LPG production in Iran has been on the rise over the past years, reaching seven million tons in 2023 from 5 million tons two years earlier.

As another speaker at the specialized panel, Bijan Chegini, the manager of production at the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) pointed at urea fertilizer as Iran’s main petrochemical product being exported to African countries.

He said: NPC exports 350 million dollars of urea fertilizer to African countries annually.

The NPC official added that the export of catalysts is one of the main opportunities that can connect Iran and African countries' petrochemical industries.

Iran which holds the second largest natural gas reserves in the world, can be one of the most reliable suppliers of natural gas over the next decades.

Reza Noshadi, managing director of the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company (IGEDC) made the remarks adding it is estimated that natural gas consumption to rise between 22 to 26 percent up to the year 2040, followed by rising demand for the product and that is why Iran will remain one of the potential sources of sustainable gas supply over the coming decades.

Speaking at the 2nd Edition of the International Iran-Africa Economic Conference on 28 April in Tehran, he said: “despite Western countries' comprehensive sanctions against our country, Iran has been able to raise its natural gas production from 400 million cubic meters per day in the year 2000 to 875 million cubic meters per day now, which is a great achievement.”

“I should say that at present the whole process of natural gas production from its extraction from wells to its distribution is being carried out by Iranian experts, without getting help from any foreign companies,” he added.

The official further noted that IGEDC is in charge of the management of as long as 440,000 kilometers of gas pipelines across the country, noting the country has reached self-sufficiency in the construction of pressure-boosting stations and gas refineries by 92 and 76 percent respectively.

IGEDC and its 250 related know-how companies can meet the needs of African countries in different fields from construction and repairing gas pipelines and pressure boosting stations to providing engineering and technical services, the company’s head said.

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