The chemical industry comprises the companies that develop and produce industrial, specialty and other chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into industrial and consumer products. The plastics industry contains some overlap, as some chemical companies produce plastics as well as chemicals.
Iran is a mixed economy with a large public sector. It is the world's 21st largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). Some 60% of Iran's economy is centrally planned. It is dominated by oil and gas production, although over 40 industries are directly involved in the Tehran Stock Exchange. The stock exchange has been one of the best performing exchanges in the world over the past decade. With 10% of the world's proven oil reserves and 15% of its gas reserves, Iran is considered an "energy superpower".
Petrochemicals are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as maize, palm fruit or sugar cane.
Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa, and built on processes that German chemists and engineers first developed in the early 1900s. Today, Sasol develops and commercializes technologies, including synthetic fuel technologies, and produces different liquid fuels, chemicals, coal tar, and electricity.
Saudi Arabia's Basic Industries Corporation, known as SABIC, is a Saudi chemical manufacturing company. 70% of SABIC's shares are owned by Saudi Aramco. It is active in petrochemicals, chemicals, industrial polymers, fertilizers, and metals. It is the second largest public company in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia as listed in Tadawul.
The National Iranian Oil Company is a government-owned national oil and natural gas producer and distributor under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran. NIOC was established in 1948 and restructured under The Consortium Agreement of 1954. NIOC ranks as the world's second largest oil company, after Saudi Arabia's state-owned Aramco.
Asaluyeh is a city in the Central District of Asaluyeh County, Bushehr province, Iran, and serves as capital of the county. Alternate spellings include: Assalouyeh, Asalouyeh, Asaloyeh, Asalooyeh, Asaluye, Assaluyeh, and Asalu. UNCTAD codes: IR YEH, IR PGU, and IR ASA.
The Iranian Oil Bourse, International Oil Bourse, Iran Petroleum ExchangeKish Exchange or Oil Bourse in Kish also known as Iran Crude Oil Exchange, is a commodity exchange, which opened its first phase on 17 February 2008.
Panipat Refinery is an oil refinery located in Baholi, Panipat, Haryana, India. It was set up in 1998. Panipat Refinery is the seventh refinery belonging to Indian Oil Corporation Limited. It is one of South Asia's largest integrated petrochemicals plants. Panipat Refinery meets the demand of petroleum products of Haryana and of the entire North-West Region including Punjab, J&K, Himachal, Chandigarh, Uttaranchal state and part of Rajasthan & Delhi. It stands by Indian Oil vision to become a major, diversified, transnational, integrated energy company, with national leadership and a strong environment conscience, playing national role in oil security and public distribution. Bedgsing younger of the Indian Oil refineries it houses latest refining technologies from Axens; France, Haldor-Topsoe; Denmark, UOP; USA, Stone & Webster; USA and Delta Hudson-Canada, Dupont, USA and ABB Luumas. The original cost of the refinery's construction was Rs 3868 Crores. It commenced with a capacity of 6 million tonnes per year and has been recently augmented to 12 million tonnes per year at a cost of Rs 4165 Crores. The refinery is designed to handle both indigenous and imported crudes. It receives crude through the Salaya Mathura Pipeline which also supplies crude to Mathura and Baroda refineries.
The National Petrochemical Company (NPC), a subsidiary to the Iranian Petroleum Ministry, is owned by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is responsible for the development and operation of the country's petrochemical sector. Founded in 1964, NPC began its activities by operating a small fertilizer plant in Shiraz. Today, NPC is the second largest producer and exporter of petrochemicals in the Middle East. Over these years, it has not only expanded the range and volume of its products, but it has also taken steps in areas such as R&D to achieve more self-sufficiency.
According to the Fourth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2005–2010), the Privatization Organization of Iran affiliated with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance is in charge of setting prices and ceding shares to the general public and on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The privatization effort is primarily backed by reformist members of the Iranian government and society who hope that privatization can bring about economic and social change.
QatarEnergy, formerly Qatar Petroleum (QP), is a state owned petroleum company of Qatar. The company operates all oil and gas activities in Qatar, including exploration, production, refining, transport, and storage. The President & CEO is Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs. The company's operations are directly linked with state planning agencies, regulatory authorities, and policy making bodies. Together, revenues from oil and natural gas amount to 60% of the country's GDP. As of 2018 it was the third largest oil company in the world by oil and gas reserves. In 2022, the company had total revenues of US$52bn, a net income of US42.4bn, and total assets of US$162bn. In 2021, QatarEnergy was the fifth largest gas company in the world.
Iran and Turkmenistan share a common border of more than 1000km. Since Turkmenistan's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the two countries have enjoyed good relations and have cooperated in economic, transportation, infrastructure development, and energy sectors. The two nations have strong historic ties.
The National Oil Corporation is the national oil company of Libya. It dominates Libya's oil industry, along with a number of smaller subsidiaries, which combined account for around 70% the country's oil output. Of NOC's subsidiaries, the largest oil producer is the Waha Oil Company (WOC), followed by the Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco), Zueitina Oil Company (ZOC), and Sirte Oil Company (SOC).
The Ras Lanuf Refinery is a topping and reforming oil refinery in Ras Lanuf, Libya. It is part of a larger petrochemical complex also consisting of an ethylene plant, a polyethylene plant, plant utilities, and Ra's Lanuf Harbor. Until 9 March 2009, the complex was operated by the RASCO, a subsidiary of the National Oil Corporation. The current operator is the Libyan Emirates Oil Refining Company.
Ras Lanuf Oil and Gas Processing Company (Rasco) is a subsidiary of the state-owned National Oil Corporation of Libya. Rasco operates the Ras Lanuf Refinery.
The Mostazafan Foundation of Islamic Revolution formerly Bonyad-e Mostazafan va Janbazan is a charitable bonyad, or foundation, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the second-largest commercial enterprise in Iran behind the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company and biggest holding company in the Middle East. The foundation used to be directly run by Khomeini.
The National Iranian Tanker Company is a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, which was privatized in 2009. As of 2011, NITC was owned by funds managing pensions for 5 million Iranians. It is the biggest tanker company in the Middle East. The company transports Iranian crude oil to export markets and also engages in cross-trading of crude oil cargoes for some 150 oil majors worldwide, including Royal Dutch Shell, TotalEnergies, Saudi Aramco and state-run producers in Kuwait and Abu Dhabi. NITC has a capacity of 11 million tons per year.
Prior to 1979, Iran's economic development was rapid. Traditionally an agrarian society, by the 1970s the country had undergone significant industrialization and economic modernization. This pace of growth had slowed dramatically by 1978 as capital flight reached $30 to $40 billion 1980 US dollars just before the revolution.
Iran is an energy superpower and the petroleum industry in Iran plays an important part in it. In 2004, Iran produced 5.1 percent of the world's total crude oil, which generated revenues of US$25 billion to US$30 billion and was the country's primary source of foreign currency. At 2006 levels of production, oil proceeds represented about 18.7% of gross domestic product (GDP). However, the importance of the hydrocarbon sector to Iran's economy has been far greater. The oil and gas industry has been the engine of economic growth, directly affecting public development projects, the government's annual budget, and most foreign exchange sources.
