Behzad Mohammadi said the ethane extraction unit of
Parsian Sepehr Refinery and two important projects for the production of
catalysts for the petrochemical industry would be commissioned.
According to him, the ethane extraction project of
Parsian Sepehr Refinery is one of the 17 petrochemical projects that were put
on agenda of the industry last year but was delayed because of the COVID-19
pandemic.
The CEO of the National Petrochemical Company,
referring to the problems caused by the outbreak of coronavirus in the country,
continued: "Despite intensification of the pandemic, which was an obstacle
in the way of projects, until the end of last [calendar] year, the projects
such as Miandoab, Kaveh, Lorestan Petrochemical catalyst production plant,
Kimia Pars Middle East, Bushehr, Lordegan, potassium sulfate plant of Urmia,
Hegmataneh, the second phase of Ilam Petrochemical plant, Bidboland Persian
Gulf Gas Refinery and Kangan Petro-refinery were among the plans that came
online throughout the year.
Mohammadi added the ethane extraction project of
Parsian Sepehr Refinery is one of the remaining projects from last year which
will come on stream on Thursday, April 15. The project will become operational
by an order from the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani via videoconference.
The plant is fed by Parsian Refinery, he said, adding
Tose’e Energy Tadbir Company has invested $1 billion in the project which is
expected to generate $1,000 million annually. The project has been developed
with 3.3 million tons per year of annual production capacity and generated
5,300 jobs during its installation and nearly 1,000 during its operation.
Regarding the two catalyst projects that are also
scheduled to come online on Thursday, Mohammadi said the two projects are among
the knowledge-based projects of the petrochemical industry.
He said the two catalytic projects include the
catalysts needed for production of polypropylene and heavy polyethylene (CX),
adding: "In catalytic projects, what is important is the development of
Iranian technical knowhow, because for the first time in the country we see the
production of such catalysts and it is a matter of pride that the technical
savvy of catalyst production is being developed by the Petrochemical Research
and Technology Company (PRTC), and this will make us needless to import these
two types of catalysts.”
The CEO of the National Petrochemical Company stated
that the value of catalyst consumption in the Iranian petrochemical industry is
about $270 million per year, adding there are 40 types of catalysts used in the
industry of which 19 have so far been localized and 9 others will be introduced
by the end of the current calendar year, which began on March 20, 2022.
Mohammadi stated: "The remaining 12 types of
catalysts are being studied will hopefully be added to the list of Iranian
catalysts in the coming years.”
He also said that Sabalan methanol, Masjed Soleiman
urea and Exir Halal projects are in the final stages of construction and will
be added to the petrochemical complexes of the country in the coming weeks.