Majid Mahmoudian said the pipeline will then carry feedstock to petrochemical plants.

“The WEP is being completed rapidly,” the official said, adding that the project will come on-stream if the necessary finance is provided.

Mahmoudian said the project has been delayed in recent years due to certain problems.

The construction of the pipeline was first adopted in 2002 when Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was serving as petroleum minister. The entire pipeline stretches from Assaluyeh in southern Iran to West Azarbaijan Province in northwestern Iran.

Kavian Petrochemical Plant will convert ethane received from South Pars to ethylene to be injected into West Ethylene Pipeline. Eleven provinces and 14 petrochemical plants are located on the route of the pipeline. The 14 petrochemical plants are either operational or under construction with an investment of 8.5 billion dollars.

The eleven provinces include Fars, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Kohguiluyeh Boyer Ahmad, Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiari, Kurdstan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Hamedan, East Azarbaijan and West Azarbaijan.

The pipeline is known to be the longest ethylene transfer pipeline in the world.