Page 37 - IRANRptFeb19

situated to the west of the city's airport, would be easy to tap, with all the required equipment pretty much on hand.
Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh told Iran’s parliament on January 20 that the country should see the objective of roughly doubling the annual output value of its petrochemical industry to $40bn as “totally doable”, IRNA reported.
There will be plenty of scepticism in response to Zanganeh’s words in the current circumstances. Iran was relying on foreign investment to drive up its petrochemical production rates, but investors from abroad have been exiting the Iranian petrochemical industry in droves given the return of heavy US sanctions targeted at the Islamic Republic’s economy. Specific sanctions against Iran’s oil, gas and petrochemical industries were kickstarted by Washington last November 5.
France’s Total, when last year abandoning multi-billion-dollar plans to help Iran develop resources in the giant South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf, also simultaneously gave up on petrochemical production ambitions in Iran. Early-stage planning work had been started by the French energy maker on investing in petrochemical facilities that would have used gas from South Pars as cheap feedstock.
In October last year, Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company (Hyundai E&C) announced it was halting a $520mn deal with Iran’s Ahdaf Investment Company (AHDAF) to build petrochemicals production installations that were to form the second phase of the Kangan Refining Complex.
Despite the run of bad news, minister Zanganeh reminded MPs that around two decades ago “the country could barely produce $1bn worth of petrochemical products annually”.
He also commended progress in domestic petrol production. Iran was meeting its market demand with a commodity that could be equated to bread for the country, Zanganeh added.
Turkey resumed imports of Iranian crude oil following a one-month hiatus in November, the month when US sanctions on Iran’s energy industries were reimposed, trading and shipping sources told Reuters on January 8.
The US granted Turkey and seven other countries 180-day import waivers in early November. Turkey said it was permitted to take 3mn tonnes a year, equivalent to about 60,000 barrels per day (bpd), under the waiver. It used to import about 200,000 bpd of Iranian crude before Washington announced in May last year that it would pull out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Tehran.
Turkey reduced its imports from Iran in the months prior to sanctions coming into force on November 5 and then its imports fell to zero in November.
In December Turkey took delivery of two tankers carrying Iranian crude, equivalent to about 54,000 bpd during December, according to a shipping and trading source familiar with the matter spoken to by the news agency.
The Solan tanker delivered into the port of Aliaga, while the Sea Topaz I discharged at Tutunciftlik.
So far in January, Turkey is set to receive a cargo from the Iranian-owned tanker Sinopa, the sources and Refinitiv Eikon ship tracking showed. Separately, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy Gholamreza Ansari said on December 8 that Iran hopes India will strive to get another waiver from US sanctions on Iranian oil as New Delhi plans to continue buying oil from Tehran. India is the second largest buyer of Iranian oil, behind biggest buyer China. As well as Turkey, India and China, 180-day waivers for Iranian
37 IRAN Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com