Iran to host international petrochemical conference in two weeks

An Iranian petrochemical industry official says the country will be hosting an international event on investment in its petrochemical sector in the middle of December.

“The conference will be held to introduce opportunities for investment in Iran's petrochemical industry and to discuss available grounds for the attraction of foreign direct investment after sanctions imposed on Iran are removed,” Mohammad Hassan Peivandi, deputy managing director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), said in an interview with IRNA.

According to the official, the conference, scheduled to be held on December 13 and 14, will be attended by representative of 137 creditable international companies.

The conference comes following a similar international event held in Tehran last week to introduce the new format of Iran's petroleum contracts and to lay out 50 oil and gas projects for development through foreign investment.

The conference, dubbed “Tehran Summit: Iran Oil and Gas Projects and Domestic Capacities,” was also attended by 137 companies and oil majors, including Repsol, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Technip, Schlumberger, Eni, Enel, Rosneft, Lukoil, Gazprom, Inpex, Statoil and Daewoo.

Iran is currently planning to attract foreign investment in development of its oil, gas and petrochemical industries as the country faces a promising outlook for the removal of international sanctions.

Sanctions were imposed on Iran by the US and the European Union at the beginning of 2012, claiming that there was diversion in Iran's peaceful nuclear program toward military purposes; an allegation that Iran categorically rejected.

The Islamic Republic clinched an agreement over its nuclear program, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with six world powers in Austrian capital city, Vienna, in mid-July.

According to JCPOA, sanctions imposed on the country’s economic and energy sectors will be lifted in return for certain restrictions on Iran's civilian nuclear program.

Iran has already unveiled plans to become the leading producer of petrochemicals in the Middle East by significantly expanding the range and volume of its petrochemical production.

Earlier in April, Ahmad Mahdavi Abhari, secretary of the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporations said the country’s petrochemical sector is capable of attracting USD 70 billion in domestic and foreign investment.

He added that he value of half-finished projects in Iran's petrochemical sector amounts to USD 70 billion, proving that the sector has a good potential to attract foreign investment.

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