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Iran says ready to export petrochemicals to Europe, US

Business Materials 25 April 2015 14:37 (UTC +04:00)

Tehran, Iran, April 25

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Abbas Sheri Moqaddam has said that the country is ready to export petrochemical products to Europe and the US.

He said that if economically feasible, Iran will offer its petrochemical products to these countries once sanctions against Iran are removed.

He further stated that if the sanctions are lifted, the Oil Ministry's top priority will be to accomplish 62 petrochemical projects, Mehr news agency reported on April 25.

Iran is looking forward to the removal of international sanctions against its economy by the July 1 deadline it has set with the group P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) which would follow a prospective nuclear deal.

The petrochemical projects have already been well defined in terms of investors, feed, land, and utility; but the main challenge before them is financial issues, Sheri Moqaddam said.

The official said on April 13 that some $30 billion of investment opportunities in Iran's petrochemical sector have been identified, which will be certainly welcomed by European and Asian investors if the sanctions against the country are lifted.

He further said that once these projects are operational, Iran's petrochemical output will hit 60 million metric tons.

He pointed out that as more phases at the South Pars gas field are turned operational, new petrochemical sites are devised to use their output.

"Also, the National Iranian Oil Company has announced that in the future a large volume of methane will be produced. Therefore, 36 petrochemical projects have been defined based on the feed, which are mainly going to be situated by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman," Moqaddam said.

The roadmap for the development of the petrochemical industry has envisaged as much as $35 billion investment, he said earlier, adding that Iran's petrochemical sales have grown by 36 folds over the past 25 years.

Iran's annual production is expected to hit 50 million metric tons for the current Iranian fiscal year (ending March 20).

The amount comes with an increase of 6 million metric tons compared to last year.

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Mehdi Sepahvand is Trend Agency's journalist in Iran, follow him on Twitter: @mehdisepahvand

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