Hassan Abbaszadeh, deputy oil minister and chief executive of the National
Petrochemical Company, said the milestone was achieved after the projects
were inaugurated by presidential order last week.
“The petrochemical industry is a process-based, chain-linked sector
that begins with upstream feedstock and moves through intermediates to final
products,” Abbaszadeh said during a televised economic program. “The
100-million-tonne capacity is distributed across this value chain.”
He said feedstock shortages, particularly of natural gas, had
prevented 20% to 22% of installed capacity from being utilized in recent years,
with about 70% of the gap attributed to insufficient gas supply.
To address the issue, Abbaszadeh pointed to investments by
petrochemical companies in upstream projects, including gas field development
and flare gas recovery. Around 30% of sector capacity is now tied to feedstock
supply initiatives, he said.
Iran plans to accelerate associated gas collection, targeting the
recovery of roughly 26 million cubic metres per day of flare gas by next year.
Nationwide, nearly 50 million cubic metres per day of gas is currently flared,
he added.
Much of the program is linked to the Bid Boland Persian Gulf
project, which aims to shut down 57 flares. Abbaszadeh said 14 flares had
already been extinguished this year, returning previously burned gas to the
production cycle.
He also said incomplete petrochemical projects were under review in
line with Iran’s Seventh Development Plan. Licences for projects lacking
meaningful progress could be revoked and reassigned to new investors.
Abbaszadeh estimated that projects scheduled under the plan could add
31.5 million tonnes of capacity by its conclusion, while emphasizing a shift
from semi-finished products toward higher value-added downstream output.
Iran’s petrochemical sector remains a central component of its non-oil
export strategy, though analysts say sustained feedstock availability and
market access will be critical to realizing the planned expansion.