Farhad Bashiri, a member of the parliament’s Article 90 Commission,
told NIPNA that developing downstream petrochemical chains can generate
multiple times the employment compared with crude oil sales or even turning
crude into a single intermediate product.
“Selling crude oil solely to secure foreign currency has become one of
the sector’s biggest challenges,” Bashiri said, stressing the need for more investment
in downstream oil, gas and petrochemical production to maximize value-added
output.
He added that the growth of smaller and private-sector investments in
petrochemical industries would help diversify the economy and expand Iran’s
presence in international markets.