TEHRAN – CEO of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Morteza Shahmirzaei has said that twelve new petrochemical complexes will be added to the current petrochemical units of the country in the current Iranian calendar year of 1402 (started March 21, 2023).
Speaking at a press conference held at the 27th Iran International Oil, Gas, ‎Refining and ‎Petrochemical Exhibition, ‎known as Iran Oil Show 2023, , Shahmirzaei said, “Today, nine agreements and nine memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed with local companies while we were dependent on foreign firms in early years after the victory of the (1979) Islamic Revolution.”
All petrochemical industry investors, local technological experts and manufacturers ought to help complete unfinished projects, Shahmirzaei said, adding that the National Petrochemical Company tries to gain self-sufficiency and provide petrochemical goods and equipment needed in the industry by local manufacturers.”
Iranian scientists and experts are capable of gaining self-sufficiency in the petrochemical industry and the company has planned to become self-sufficient in catalyst production by the end of the current administration, and in manufacturing goods and equipment within the next five to six years, the NPC chief emphasized, SHANA reported.
“We need to focus on indigenizing technical know-how,” he added.
And also, Mostafa Shahir, from the Khatam al Anbia Construction Headquarters (KAA), said that a large Iranian gas condensate refinery is expected to come on line next year amid efforts to meet a rising demand for gasoline that has caused the country to resume imports after more than a decade.
The company responsible for building Persian Gulf Mehr Refinery that the facility is planned to be launched with some 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) of processing capacity in the calendar year 1403, starting March 2023.
Shahir said that the launch of Mehr refinery would cover a widening gap between supply and demand for gasoline in Iran.
“It is expected that the launch of this refinery would add 13 million liters of gasoline, three million liters of diesel and one million liters of kerosene to the country’s (daily) output capacity,” he was quoted as saying on the sidelines of Iran Oil Show, a four-day energy event that wrapped up in Tehran on Saturday.
Persian Gulf Mehr Refinery is being built near the Persian Gulf Star Refinery, a 360,000 bpd refinery which runs on gas supplies from South Pars, the world’s largest gas field located on the maritime border between Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf.
Iran is currently producing nearly 105 million liters per day of gasoline, some five million liters short of meeting record daily demand that has been reported on busy travelling days in recent months.
Ultra-cheap prices of gasoline and diesel have led to a major surge in fuel smuggling across the Iranian borders in recent months, forcing the country to resume limited gasoline imports from countries like Russia.