Iran annual petchem output nearing 100 mln tons: Minister

Iran has opened two major petchem projects in northwest and center of the country to add some 25 million tons of capacity to its annual output.

According to Press TV, using a video conference call on Thursday, President Hassan Rouhani opened the Miandoab Petrochemical Complex, a facility for production of polyethylene located in the West Azerbaijan province on the border with Turkey.

Rouhani also gave the go-ahead for the start of works at a hexane production unit at Shazand Refinery, a major petchem complex located in Markazi province.

Oil Minister BIjan Namdar Zanganeh said launching the new projects would help Iran increase its gross annual output of petchem products to 100 million metric tons by March 2021 from 70 million tons currently.

Miandoab Petrochemicals would feed on ethylene transferred from southern Iran through a 1,660-kilometer pipeline, the longest in the world which has enabled Iran to economize fuel consumption in refineries located west of the country.

The refinery in Miandoab has cost over $100 million and is capable of producing some 140,000 tons of heavy polyethylene each year, said a report by IRNA news agency.

Another petchem project launched on Thursday was a unit for production of hexane, a key constituent of gasoline, in Shazand Refinery. Authorities said the scheme would generate around $45 million in revenues for Iran through an increase of half a million liters in gasoline production per day.

SS