An Iranian deputy oil minister says the country plans to establish a new petrochemical hub near the Sea of Oman in a bid to facilitate exports to India and China, Press TV reported.
Abdolhossein Bayat said Sunday that the new petrochemical hub which will be set up in the southeastern port city of Chabahar would need USD 20 billion in investment.
"Reducing the cost of petrochemical exports to India and China will be the most important achievement of this new petrochemical hub," said the official, who is also managing director of National Petrochemical Company (NPC).
"Industrial and economic development in the east and southeast [of Iran] is the main reason behind the establishment and inauguration of the country's third petrochemical hub," Bayat added.
He said the new hub will add 15 million tons to the country's petrochemical production.
The previous two hubs were set up in Assaluyeh, which houses the massive installations of the offshore South Pars Gas Field, and in Mahshahr which is an oil-rich city in southwestern Iran.
Iran reaped USD 12 billion from exporting petrochemicals in the last Iranian calendar year which ended on March 20, 2013.
Nearly 60 countries, mainly from South and Southeast Asia, imported Iran's petrochemical products in the previous Iranian calendar year.
The Islamic Republic is determined to become the biggest petrochemical producer in the Middle East.
The country has significantly expanded the range and volume of its petrochemical production over the past few years, and the NPC has become the second largest producer and exporter of petrochemicals in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia.