TEHRAN, April 02 (Shana) �-The Green European Foundation (GEF) hailed a proposal by Iran's Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) to clear underground water and soil in petrochemical plants, a RIPI official said.

Mahmoud Torki, head of the energy and environment faculty of RIPI, said the project was ranked among the world's 17 top environment-saving projects, and now, GEF has hailed the project as a top environmental project.

As the research arm of Iran's petroleum industry, RIPI studies are initiated by orders from Iranian petroleum companies, said Torki, adding that the environment faculty of RIPI seeks to offer industrial solutions that can best preserve the environment.

The institute is also planning to launch an industrial gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant during the current Iranian calendar year which started on March 20.

RIPI, supported by National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), has developed the plant for the first time in Iran to stop the technology's monopoly by a few countries.

By SHANA