The petrochemical production capacity of Iran is likely to reach 100 million tons by 2015, Mr. Abdolhossein Bayat, an Iranian Deputy Oil Minister, has said.
Mr. Bayat, who is also the managing director of National Petrochemical Company (NPC), said Iran’s petrochemical production capacity would increase to 60 million tons by August this year, as several new petrochemical projects are likely to become on-stream by then.
New petrochemical hubs are being set up in Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, in the southeastern port city of Chabahar, and in Sarakhsh in northeastern Iran, which are together expected to make Iran the largest petrochemical producer in the Middle East.
During the last few years, Iran has significantly increased the volume and range of its petrochemical products, and the NPC has grown to become the second-biggest producer and exporter of petrochemicals in the Middle East, next only to Saudi Arabia.
Iran exported US$ 14 billion worth of petrochemicals to 60 countries worldwide during Iranian calendar year that ended on March 19, 2012.
