Summary of petrochemical planning and development trends

In reviewing the mission of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) and reflecting it in the company’s new role as a development body, three main topics were defined for the role. Planning and Development as one of these topics is assigned to consider "Industry Planning", "Development of Special Infrastructure and Projects" and "Feedstock and Supply Chain Management". ‌

In this regard, various measures have and are been taken in the above fields, of which the following can be mentioned: Development of "The Petrochemical Industry Roadmap for 2027", definition and construction of new projects based on requirements such as domestic licensing, feedstock and product diversity, commercialization and the like.

Most Management Functions

Due to the nature of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) as a development organization, the mastermind, compiler of strategies and policies and operational and executive plans, is the directorate of planning and development. Therefore, according to the structure of the Duties and Powers Act of the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, the main functions of the directorate can be listed as follows:

Policymaking

•   Foresight and development of strategic document and vision of sustainable development of petrochemical industries
• Design and introduce appropriate policies to support the industry, implement strategies and implement development projects
• Designing the Industry’s Value Chain
• Presenting policies to support balanced development of the petrochemical industry according to the country's competitive advantages and paving the way for investment in the projects, strengthening and regulating domestic markets, import and export of petrochemicals

Implementation

• Communication, coordination and interaction with the Ministry of Petroleum and other policy-making and executive bodies in the administration, parliament, judiciary and other competent authorities in order to obtain the necessary and legal support for the strategy and development plans of the petrochemical industry
• Conducting market studies and research and reviewing the trends of domestic and global developments in the petrochemical industry
• Planning for the development of the petrochemical industry by the private sector
• Developing projects concerning sustainable development infrastructure and conducting technical-economic and feasibility studies and estimates
• Follow-up and coordination of feedstock supply and pricing
•   Design and implementation of a comprehensive information technology system as the infrastructure of the petrochemical industry information system with the aim of creating a comprehensive database of the industry and their operation and dissemination in order to provide access of stakeholders to transparent industry information

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Measuring performance of the petrochemical industry considering the set goals in all areas under supervision
• Analyzing results and providing feedback to review and correct strategies, plans, and policies

Management Achievements and Plans

• In addition to the ongoing measures, each of which alone can have a serious impact on other sectors and activities, the most important achievements of this department in 2020 are:
• Obtaining investment license for Islamabad West GTPP project
• Amending the bylaws for gradual feedstock discount and obtaining approval of the Cabinet
• Defining Assaluyeh Propylene Park and obtaining approval of the Cabinet for its construction
• Develop a roadmap for the development of the petrochemical industry in collaboration with the management and the departments
• Defining the propulsion plans of the country's petrochemical industry in the four chains of propylene, ethylene, benzene and methanol based on the analysis of petrochemical imports
• Amendment of the Articles of Association of the National Petrochemical Company based on new roles and duties to submit the bill to the Islamic Consultative Assembly  
• Develop annual plans and start developing the seventh five-year development plan of the country
• Compilation and calculation of performance evaluation indicators for the petrochemical industry
• Investigating the performance of hard currency liabilities of petrochemical industry production units
• Determining the 8-year price of methanol based on the real situation of the domestic market and the impact of the global market
• Determining the pricing formula of ethylene and propylene
• Import analysis of petrochemical products in 2019 and study of butadiene chain in order to announce secondary propulsion projects
• Modification of instructions for the use of second-hand units in the petrochemical industry
• Technical-economic review and preparation of technical-explanatory report of Assaluyeh Propylene Park projects, Assaluyeh-Marvdasht Propylene Transmission Pipeline and propylene storage and distribution infrastructure in Marvdasht, Amirabad GTP and Amirabad Propylene Transmission Pipeline to Damghan and propylene storage and distribution infrastructue in Damghan , olefin and downstream project scenarios in Sar-e-pol-e-Zahab, olefin mega-projects in Kangan and Assaluyeh, olefin and downstream units with various products at different oil prices in order to price the ethylene output
• Cooperation in the development and implementation of projects related to energy efficiency in the petrochemical industry
• Establish, maintain, develop and support the company's information and communication systems including G2G (Government to Government), Business Intelligence System (BI) and Management Planning as well as the Five-Year Plans
• Organize, store, manage and publish electronic and printed information
• Preparation of performance and strategic reports of the company
• Implementation of the projects to "Provide online services" Project and "Implement the plan to return the costs of providing information resources of the information center" ­