Behzad Mohammadi, who is also Deputy Petroleum Minister for Petrochemical Affairs, said on Sunday, (which was marked as the Petrochemical Day): "The petrochemical industry, as the first industry in the country, is strengthening its position in Iran’s macro-economy day by day, which indicates that the sanctions imposed on petrochemical companies are ineffective or futile."
Mohammadi, stating that the train for the development of the petrochemical industry is moving at a good pace and every once in a while a new project comes online in the industry, added: “By December this year, 9 projects have been put into operation by the president. During this period, the growth of demand for crude oil and petroleum products was less than one percent while demand growth in the petrochemical sector was 4 to 5 percent.”
He further said that the industry received 35 million tons of feedstock (equivalent to 800,000 barrels of oil per day) including natural gas, naphtha and kerosene during last calendar year which ended on March 20, adding the amount is expected to reach an equivalent of 2 million barrels of oil by 2026 and 2.2 mbd by 2027.
By March 2020, 56 petrochemical plants operated in Iran which is predicted to reach 64 facilities by 2026 and 70 by 2027, Mr. Mohammadi went on to add.