Published on February 12, 2018
Iran's annual petrochemical revenue has averaged $20 billion in the last five years, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said.
“To increase non-oil exports, we should raise petrochemical investments and avoid selling raw materials,” IRNA quoted Zanganeh as saying, adding that the country is in need of foreign finance and know-how to materialize its development plans.
Tehran earned $9.55 billion in revenues from petrochemical exports last year, official data show. Petrochemical consignments went mostly to Asia, Europe and South America.
According to sources, five petrochemical plants are currently under construction in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad and the Oil Ministry has issued the permit to carry out feasibility studies for another named Boyerahmad Petrochemical Plan.
“Gachsaran and Dehdasht petrochemical plans are being implemented each with an investment of over $1 billion, the physical progress of the former being 50%,” he said. Petrochemical is Iran's most important industry after oil and gas. NPC hopes to lift nominal output capacity to more than 120 million tons per annum by 2022, the last year of Iran's Sixth Five-Year Economic Development Plan
