Since the beginning of this [calendar] year (which began on March 21), 6 projects have been inaugurated in line with the commitment to launch 17 petrochemical projects in the year.
This number has reached 9 with Thursday’s openings, said Behzad Mohammadi, the CEO of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC). The three projects are the olefin and sulfur recovery units of Ilam Petrochemical Plant, the potassium sulfate unit of Urmia Petrochemical Plant and Hegmataneh Petchem Plant.
He said by launching the projects, the total production capacity of the petrochemical industry has increased from currently 66 million tons to 77 million tons per year, adding with the continuation of the process of completing the plans in the current year, the country’s petrochemical production capacity will reach 90 million tons per year.
The Persian Gulf Bidboland gas refinery, Kangan Petro-refinery, Parsian Sepehr refinery and Exir Halal are among the projects that will be officially inaugurated by the end of this calendar year, said Mohammadi, who is also Deputy Petroleum Minister for Petrochemical Affairs.
He said operation of several projects is likely to be postponed to the early months of next year because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani officially inaugurated the projects via video conference on Thursday.