Press TV - Managing director of National Iranian Petrochemical Company says investments in the South Pars petrochemical projects will hit $30b.

There has been a $7.5 billion investment in the first phase of the South Pars petrochemical projects and $13 billion will be invested in the second phase; another $9 billion will be invested in petrochemical downstream projects, said Gholam-Hossein Najabat on Tuesday.

A petrochemical plant in Iran

The value of marketable petrochemical products of the first phase is estimated at $8.2 billion annually, he added.

Upon completion of the second phase of the Asalouyeh petrochemical sector, the value of marketable products of this phase will be $14.1 billion.

The state-run NIPC, which is a subsidiary of Iran's Oil Ministry, plans to double its output to 68 million tons per year by 2024 and will increase its annual production to 100 million tons in two decades.

Currently, Iran accounts for 24 percent of petrochemical production in the Middle East, making it second to the area's largest producer, Saudi Arabia. Iran produces 2.1 percent of the world's petrochemical products.

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