Minister bans foreign firms from Iranian petrochemical sector

06 February 2012 | 23:13 Code : 1897685 Latest Headlines

Mehr News Agency – The oil minister on Monday/yesterday placed a ban on licenses for foreign companies wishing to develop domestic petrochemical projects in Iran.

Rostam Qasemi has ordered the National Iranian Oil Production and Distribution Company to cease business with foreign companies involved in Iran’s refinery sector, and to benefit from local expertise and nationally-produced technology.

Several companies have neglected their contractual obligations, including France’s Accent Oil And Gas Corp., the UK’s Cross & Simon, The Start, UOP LLC, and SW companies, and British-Dutch Shell, all of which held licenses for developing refinery projects in Iran.

The National Petrochemical Company managing director said on January 17 that up to 25 percent of the parts used in Iran’s oil industry are domestically produced.

Abdolhossein Bayat told ISNA news agency that 15-16 percent of petrochemical equipment is manufactured inside the country and the figure rises to 25 percent if separated parts are taken into account.

The oil minister said in August 2011 that the oil industry's infrastructure needs more than 500 trillion rials (about $41 billion) of investment to achieve the goals of the 20-year economic outlook plan (to end 2025).