TEHRAN – Iran’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC) has met all first-year goals under the Seventh National Development Plan, its managing director said, stressing the need for tougher safety inspections and stronger multilayer protection across the sector.

Hassan Abbasszadeh told the third Process Safety Management Conference that the industry had just come through a “serious crisis” during the recent twelve-day conflict, underscoring the importance of analyzing the incident and reinforcing safety systems at every level.

He said emergency management and control teams were activated immediately after the conflict began.

Some incidents in the petrochemical sector can carry far-reaching risks, he added, making multilayer safety architecture essential.

Abbasszadeh said lessons from the twelve-day conflict must now be integrated into industry practice, noting that Iran’s Passive Defense Organization has also revised its strategies.

He called for full vigilance toward rare but high-impact events and for shorter timelines to restore safe operating conditions.

He said maintaining coherence in crisis response is crucial, adding that inspections must be more stringent and process-safety upgrades should be continuously monitored.

The deputy oil minister noted that the petrochemical sector operates advanced monitoring and control systems. The gathering, he said, was a technical meeting for shared learning rather than a general conference. Reviewing the sector’s performance showed that petrochemical companies fulfilled one hundred percent of their first-year commitments under the Seventh Plan.

He cited unused capacity as a key challenge, saying about twenty-two percent of the sector’s roughly one hundred million-ton installed capacity remains idle, though efforts are underway to stabilize feedstock supply and prevent further downtime.

Abbasszadeh said recovering associated gas remains a major feedstock strategy. The president has ordered accelerated measures to curb flaring, including priority hard-currency allocations for required equipment and fast-tracked customs clearance.

NPC is the primary investor in flare-reduction projects in East and West Karoun, he said. The NGL 3200 project is expected to come online by the end of the year, while Bidboland Gas Refining Company has made substantial investments that have already shut down several flares, with more units to follow by year-end. Maroon Petrochemical is also investing in flare-recovery initiatives.

He said the sector is promoting efficient gas use with support from the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC). Twelve optimization projects have been defined, and last year Pardis and Zagros petrochemical companies invested in one project to use gas saved through efficiency measures.

Abbasszadeh added that newly active contractor companies and public cooperation could help provide part of the sector’s feedstock through energy-saving initiatives this year.

The third Process Safety Management Conference was held on Wednesday at the Koushk International Conference Center, hosted by Arya Sasol Polymer Company.

EF/MA