Publish Date: 20 August 2016 - 15:01

TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) – APIC managing director said the Iranian private sector is not currently after buying shares at Asian or European petrochemical complexes.

Ahmad Mahdavi made the remarks asserting “buying shares of profitable firms and companies in various parts of the world remains as an excellent trade and economic strategy for investors.”

Director general of the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporations (APIC) said new investment opportunities worth 60 billion dollars have emerged in the country’s petrochemical industries in the post-JCPOA era; “Iran possesses better advantages over other countries for development of these industries.”

He further enumerated a number of merits boosting Iranian petchem industries including rich oil and gas reservoirs, diversified feed basket, access to international waters, proximity to huge markets like India, China, East Asia, Turkey as well as Middle Eastern and Caucasus states.

“Given the existing potentials for expansion of the field inside the country, purchase of shares from foreign firms would not mark a high priority,” said Mahdavi reiterating “at the present time, Iran’s private sector does not hold any plans to buy shares of petrochemical complexes in various parts of the world, particularly Europe or Asia.”

One advantage of attracting investors to the country’s petrochemical industry is selling of cheap feed to the extent that Iran is now delivering the world’s cheapest gas to complexes to be consumed as feed or fuel.

On the other hand, reports of prestigious international institutions reveal that Saudi Arabia is faced with the crisis of acute shortage of natural gas and even the launch of a development project at Karan gas field cannot meet the needs of OPEC’s largest oil producer.

Nevertheless, Iran has put expansion of South Pars gas field on the agenda and if financial channels are regulated, daily production at the joint field can rise by 700 million cubic meters.

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