The Government of Iran Has Issued Instructions to Oil Refineries and Petrochemical Units

The Government of Iran has issued instructions to oil refineries and petrochemical units to not to reduce their feedstock supply to downstream petrochemical units, reports Shana.

The order issued by Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zanganeh states that oil refineries and petrochemical units are not allowed to reduce the amount of feedstock delivery to downstream sector’s facilities unilaterally.

The Minister said that refineries and petrochemical units should continue delivery of feedstock to the downstream petrochemical plants according to pre-privatization levels, unless the downstream sector units want to change their agreement to taking lower levels of feedstock.

The new order was sent by the Minister to the National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NPC), National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC), and the department of planning and supervision on hydrocarbon resources at the Petroleum Ministry for enforcement.

However, the price of feedstock would be decided bilaterally between the supplying refineries and petrochemical units and the downstream sector’s officials, according to the Minister.

In the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year that started on March 21, 2014, Iran’s petrochemical exports increased by six percent year-on-year, according to the NPC.

During the quarter, production of petrochemical industries increased by 6.5 percent year-on-year, owing to increased efficiency and a decrease in work stoppage instances at petrochemical units.

In the last calendar year, Iran’s petrochemical exports increased by about one percent year-on-year to US$ 10.723 billion. Asian, African and Eastern European countries were the main buyers of Iran’s petrochemical products.

In the current Iranian calendar year, Iran’s petrochemical exports are likely to touch $12 billion.

Iran has the world’s largest natural gas reserves and the third-largest proven oil reserves. The country is now aiming to become the biggest petrochemical producer in the Middle East region, and it has significantly expanded the range and volume of its petrochemical production over the past few years.