a major advantage in the petrochemical industry in terms of supplying feedstock to these units. Meantime, over the past three years, Iran has seen its oil production and exports increase.
Zangeneh said Iran's Ministry of Petroleum was considering a plan to allocate a share of these fields' output to petrochemical plants in order to feed them.
"In the past, the petrochemicals' feedstock was a byproduct of [oil] fields, but today some fields are providing feedstock to petrochemical plants," he added.
The minister said assigning liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects to the private sector was one of approaches to accelerate petrochemical feedstock production and prevent the flaring of associated petroleum gas.
"NGL 3100, NGL 3200, NGL 2400 and Bidboland are all among the Ministry of Petroleum's plans for feeding petrochemical plants," he added.
70 Downstream Petchem Projects
Shahdaei, who is also deputy minister of petroleum for petrochemical affairs, said Iran's rated capacity of petrochemical production stood at 60 million tons a year after half a century of growth.
"Iran's share of major petrochemicals reached 2.3% in the world and 22.6% in the Middle East" in the calendar year to March 2016, she said.
According to Shahdaei, 20 petrochemical plants with a rated capacity of 26.3 million tons a year plus a company providing utility services in Mahshahr were producing a variety of petrochemicals.
She pointed to the two projects that were inaugurated at the ceremony, saying: "These projects have become operational in line with the completion of value chain, generation of more value-added and preventing sale of raw materials."
Shahdaei said planning to offer products of higher value-added was one of approaches of Iran's petrochemical industry, adding: "The products of [the projects] that were operated are used mainly in making tires, cable and wire cover. I hope that implementation of these projects would help make downstream industries prosperous in order to help increase the country's exports."
Regarding future plans of NPC in Mahshahr, she said: "Currently 22 mid-stream, upstream and downstream petrochemical projects are under way in the zone with a capacity of around 1.5 million tons and an investment of $1.3 billion. That will help create 2,500 direct and 4,700 indirect jobs, to be added to the current 30,000 jobs."
According to Shahdaei, plans for upstream industries envisage implementation of seven projects in Mahshahr with a capacity of 5.5 million tons and investment of $4.5 billion. She added that these figures could increase with more feedstock and demand for more investment.
Shahdaei said feasibility studies are under way on 70 projects with an investment of around IRR 5,000 billion to be offered to potential investors. So far, she added, 14 memorandums of understanding have been signed between Mahshahr special zone and companies willing for investment. Five of them have been turned into contracts.
Mideast's 1st MDI Production
Karoun Petrochemical Plant has for the first time managed to produce two sophisticated products: Toluene Diisocyanate (TDI) and Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate (MDI). The first phase of this plant was launched in cooperation with a Swedish company several years ago to produce 40,000 tons of TDI. The second phase of this plant has now become operational to produce 40,000 tons a year of MDI. The product (MDI) is being supplied for the first time in the Middle East and West Asia. Its commercial production is expected to start next calendar year.
MDI is used for different purposes. It is the raw material for flexible and inflexible sponges. It is also used in different industries like upholstery, chair making, car production, thermal industries, insulation, hard foam and sponge, refrigerator parts, shoe industry, etc.
A total of 350 million euros has been invested in designing, building and launching both phases of Karoun Petrochemical Plant. Furthermore, the second phase of this plant has been launched largely without the presence of foreign experts.
Companies like Royal Dutch Shell and BASF are among the most important rivals of Iran in the MDI and TDI markets. Many Asian countries, particularly in the Middle East and West Asia, and several European, African and American countries are among buyers of Karoun's products. Some of them are Italy, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Greece, India, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, Kenya, Nigeria and Peru.
Ali-Reza Seddiqizadeh, CEO of Karoun Petrochemical Plant, has said that domestic manufacturing of these products would save the country $300 million every year.
Knowhow Indigenized
Takht-e Jamshid Petrochemical Plant is a polymer project which is being developed in two phases by receiving such feedstock as butadiene and styrene from other petrochemical plants. The first phase of this plant was launched on a trial basis in July 2014 and has now become operational with a production capacity of 70,000 tons a year.
The main products supplied in the first phase of this project are styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and polybutadiene rubber (PBR), which are widely used in tire industry, part manufacturing and shoemaking.
Implementation of this phase has cost $100 million plus IRR 4,000 billion. Furthermore, 90% of equipment used in this part of Takht-e Jamshid Petrochemical Plant is domestically manufactured and the job has been done without any foreign company involved.
Takht-e Jamshid is currently exporting SBR and PBR to China, Turkey, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan and several European countries. Asia still remains the main destination of products of this plant.
The second phase of this project has a capacity of 80,000 tons a year. It has two PBR units plus a solvent production unit. The investment made in this phase equals that of the first phase.
Parviz Hamidi, CEO of Takht-e Jamshid Petrochemical Plant, said that the technical savvy applied to the second phase of this project has been indigenized. He added that this plant has been developed without contribution of any foreign consultant.
Mahshahr Special Economic Petrochemical Zone, located in southern Iran, has an area of 2,600 ha. Upstream, mid-stream and downstream plants as well as five petrochemical sites measuring 12 kilometers in length are located in this zone. Given Iran's development plans for boosting petrochemical production, development of the Mahshahr zone is under study.