SHANA � The Iranian Minister of Petroleum said the country would launch Kaveh Methanol, Pars Kimia Middle East and Lorestan Catalyst projects on Thursday (August 6), saying inauguration of 17 petrochemical projects is planned by the end of this calendar year.

Bijan Zangeneh today (Monday, August 3), on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of gas supply to 77 villages, talked to reporters.

In response to a question about the opening of three petrochemical projects on Thursday this week, he said: �Kimia Pars Middle East with a daily production capacity of 5,000 tons of methanol, Kaveh Plant with a daily production capacity of 7,000 tons of methanol and Lorestan Catalyst Plant will be inaugurated this week.�

The volume of Lorestan catalysts is not high, but this plant is strategically important because if there is no catalyst, the operation of many processes will not take place, he explained.

The Iranian Ministry of Petroleum further said that 17 petrochemical projects were planned to come online by March 2021 which would add 25 million tons to the country�s petrochemical production capacity.