Iran, S Africa agree to build GTL plant

Marzieh Shah-Daei, Managing Director of National Petrochemical Company (NPC) met and talked with the visiting South African Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson in Tehran on Sunday.

The joint session revolved around launch of studies for building a Gas to Liquids (GTL) unit with a capacity of 50 thousand barrels. The two sides emphasized on the need to finalize negotiations in the shortest possible time.

Iran’s Shah-Daei, while noting that the two sides held great capacities for cooperation in petrochemical industry, said “view were exchanged over investment and collaboration of South African private sector with the Iranian petchem industry as well as constructing a GTL unit.”

“Research Institute of Petroleum Industry and a South African company had previously reached agreements to build a GTL complex in Iran,” recalled NPC head adding “study phase of the project had been launched while it was agreed today that talks be finalized for draft of the contract to be written.”

The official stressed that construction of the unit will become finalized once careful economic and technical analyses are carried out; “taking advantage of shared technologies could pave the path for further cooperation.”

Ms.Joemat-Pettersson, for her part, envisioned that the contract for building a GTL unit will be inked during the upcoming visit of Iran’s President to her country stating “private firms of South Africa are eager to cooperate and conduct joint venture with Iran.”

The official recalled that Iran and South Africa enjoyed an age-old history of bilateral relations though their ties have become deepened in the post-JCPOA era reiterating that “the South African government is ready to support t presence of the private sector in Iran.”

Gas to Liquids (GTL) is a refinery process to convert natural gas or other gaseous hydrocarbons into longer-chain hydrocarbons, such as gasoline or diesel fuel.

SOURCE : MEHRNEWS