Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 14
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
BASF, a leading petrochemical producer, is planning to make an investment of six billion dollars in Iran's Pars Special Economic Energy Zone, an Iranian petroleum official said.
Hamidreza Rostami, director for planning at the National Petrochemical Company of Iran, told Fars news agency that BASF will bring technology and investment and it is expected to engage in the sales process of the products.
According to Rostami, Iran owns about 12 million tons of LPG, 4.5 million tons of ethane and 13 million tons of naphtha.
Earlier on December 13 addressing the 12th Iran Petrochemical Forum (IPF 2015) in Tehran, Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that Iran's petrochemical products revenues is planned to reach $70 billion per year by 2025.
"Foreign firms that used to have a representation in Iran can launch their branch here with their brand and select their strategic Iranian partners with our support," Zanganeh said.
The minister said that once the refinery projects are completed the ministry will be able to allocate more than 12 million tons of LPG, 4.5 million tons of ethane and 13 million tons of naphtha to petrochemical units in addition to the feedstock which is already allocated to the industry, Zanganeh added.
Iran's petrochemical output hit 44.4 million tons in March 2014- 2015, 10 percent more year-on-year.
The country's actual production capacity is around 60 million tons, but the shortage of natural gas as feedstock, old production units, and the sanctions, due to which the exports have dropped, forced petrochemical complexes to work at lower capacities.
Tehran hopes to use the IPF 2015 to attract foreign investors for its post-sanctions projects and plans aimed at boosting the petrochemical output capacity to over 138 million tons per year in 2020 and eventually to 180 million tons per year by 2025 with an investment of over $80 billion.
