Morteza Shahmirzai, during the second conference and exhibition on
technology management and increasing knowledge-based production in the oil
industry, held today (Tuesday, December 19, 2023), highlighted the remarkable
growth of petrochemical capacities post-Islamic Revolution.
He mentioned that prior to the 1979 revolution, the country had six
petrochemical complexes with a total capacity of 1.5 million tons, a number
that has now soared to over 92 million tons, a testament to the Islamic
Revolution's miraculous advancements.
Shahmirzai emphasized the crucial need to focus on the petrochemical
industry for creating opportunities in youth employment, affirming efforts to
localize all catalysts required by the country's oil industry by the end of
this government's term. Presently, 97% of the domestic demand for catalysts in
this industry is met internally.
The Deputy Petroleum Minister and NPC CEO highlighted aspirations to
indigenize all rotating machinery in the petrochemical sector within the next
five years, marking the development of the petrochemical value chain as another
major goal.
He continued, stating that currently, 108 petrochemical projects
across the nation are either in the licensing, feasibility study, or
implementation stages. He cited the example of the Hamedan Petrochemical
project, which, after nearly 20 years of dormancy, entered the implementation
phase last month.
Discussing the industry's progress, Shahmirzai revealed that licenses
for 19 non-operational projects were revoked last year due to investors' inactivity.
Their allocated quotas were redistributed to new ventures.
The NPC CEO added, "Last year, the petrochemical industry
contributed $16 billion in hard currency earnings to the country, and we strive
to increase this figure this year."
Additionally, in the first six months of this year, over 40 trillion
rials in domestic credit were allocated to support petrochemical product sales,
aiming to prevent raw material exports and bolster domestic production units.
Shahmirzai concluded by unveiling the proposal and introduction of 20
critical petrochemical projects aimed at expanding the value chain, inviting
major country holdings for investment opportunities.