Petrochemical sector in dire need of investment: OPEX
By Sadeq Dehqan & Mahdieh Qazvinian
Staff writers
Iran has built petrochemical plants, with a total production capacity of 95 million tons, which currently produce about 70 million tons of petrochemical products per year, announced a member of the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union (OPEX).
Talking to Iran Daily on the occasion of the National Petrochemical Industry Day, Hamid Hosseini added that it is a fact that our country needs the required feedstock to produce petrochemical products.
Iran has all kinds of feedstock that can be used by petrochemical industries, including gas, oil, liquefied gas and condensates, he explained, adding that an energy giant like Saudi Arabia does not have gas
resources.
“According to the advantages that Iran has, the petrochemical industry is one of the most important industries that has received attention.”
Hosseini noted that our country enjoys an educated manpower to drive the petrochemical industry to further development.
In terms of technical knowledge, we have reached a level where, due to sanctions, our petrochemical industry is able to carry out most of the work by indigenized technology.
A petrochemical complex must be constructed in a zone where there is plenty of water, he said, adding that some plants will be built in Chabahar in the near future.
Another important need of the industry is access to the market, Hosseini said, noting that a great market is in Asia, while consumption of petrochemical products has been spread to all industries.
In home appliances, medicine, and many other industries, we can see polymer and other petrochemical products which have replaced steel products and other materials, he explained.
“Furthermore, in the near future, carbon-based fuel consumption for cars and power plants will decrease as the world will move toward renewable energies.”
We could be hopeful for petrochemical industries as Iran can allocate the greater part of its oil production to petrochemical producing plants.
“Iran has the second rank, after Saudi Arabia, in the Middle East in terms of the weight of petrochemicals production. In Saudi Arabia, the tonnage of products is much greater than in Iran.”
This industry is very capital intensive rather than labor intensive, Hosseini said, adding that the country is in dire need of investments for modernization.
“Until two years ago, our oil exports and imports were in balance, as the export value of oil products and petrochemical products was $25 billion, but now our exports have decreased.”
Iran’s trade balance is positive thanks to its oil exports, Hosseini said, noting that due to the decrease in global prices of petrochemicals, the revenues for our exports have decreased by 14 percent, while the weight of our exported petrochemical products has increased.