For years, Iran's petrochemical industry was gripped by one of its most complex internal disputes: disagreement over how to price ancillary services such as steam, industrial water, electricity, and nitrogen. The fallout extended well beyond relations between utility producers and consumers, at times dragging companies into the courts and even affecting the stock market. The conflict finally came to an end when the Supreme Council for Economic Coordination approved NPC's authority to arbitrate and set ancillary service prices, in a session held on January 31, 2026 (11 Bahman 1404).

The significance of this decision lies in the fact that utility pricing was never just an accounting disagreement between a handful of companies. Steam, industrial water, electricity, nitrogen, and similar inputs form the critical infrastructure of petrochemical complexes, and their price and supply arrangements directly affect production costs, profitability, the feasibility of expansion projects, and investor decision-making. Settling who has authority over these prices is therefore part of the larger challenge of building stability and predictability across the industry.

From Price Dispute to the Courts

To understand the weight of this decision, it helps to trace the path that led here. Before 2018 (1397), the price of ancillary services was set through agreement between producing and consuming companies, then formally communicated by NPC. In 2018, after one company filed a complaint with the Competition Council, the Council ruled that petrochemical utility products fell under monopoly regulation and established a formula for calculating prices. Under that same framework, NPC — acting as the regulator's technical arm — became responsible for calculating and announcing prices.

In 2021 (1400), the Competition Council revised the formula, incorporating the appraisal and updated valuation of the asset base of companies operating in this space. Implementing that ruling led to substantial price increases and, in turn, growing dissatisfaction among consumer companies. The dispute eventually reached the Administrative Court of Justice, which in 2024 (1403) annulled the prices set between 2021 and 2024. The ruling left the industry without any formula or replacement pricing mechanism, and even led to the suspension of trading for some companies' shares on the stock exchange.

What had been a technical, industry-internal matter thus grew into an issue with far broader economic consequences. Uncertainty over utility pricing made it difficult for companies to forecast costs and cash flow, while widening the rift between producers and consumers.

The 14th Administration Steps In

Against this backdrop, one of the fourteenth administration's notable moves was to take targeted action on the dispute and pursue its resolution through a specialized, industry-based framework. The matter was first referred to the Cabinet's Economic Commission by the First Vice President in November 2024 (Azar 1403), and the following month was handed over to the Ministry of Petroleum and NPC.

Months of expert-level meetings and dialogue with petrochemical companies eventually produced convergence among industry stakeholders. Sustained follow-up efforts began in the fall of last year, and after a series of intensive sessions, the matter moved through technical review and ultimately reached what was described as a strategic agreement and consensus among petrochemical companies.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this effort is what it avoided: rather than pursuing resolution through confrontation or litigation, the Ministry of Petroleum and NPC worked to bring stakeholders together and draw on the industry's own technical expertise to build the foundation for a lasting agreement.

That process ultimately reached the country's highest decision-making level. On January 31, 2026, the Supreme Council for Economic Coordination formally approved NPC's authority to arbitrate and determine ancillary service prices for the petrochemical industry.

Redefining NPC's Role

One of the most important messages behind this decision is the redefinition and reinforcement of NPC's position as the industry's specialized regulatory body. Unlike producing companies, NPC is not itself a manufacturer; its core mission is to exercise governance, regulation, arbitration, and the creation of stable frameworks within which companies can operate.

Seen this way, granting NPC arbitration authority over ancillary service pricing can be viewed as an example of the very role the industry needs to manage relations among its players.

A specialized body, drawing on technical expertise, facilitation, and a problem-solving approach, can play a meaningful role in resolving disputes between industry actors. This approach also reflects a broader policy priority of the fourteenth administration: rather than having the government intervene directly in company affairs, the aim has been to build a specialized mechanism for dispute resolution — one capable of aligning company interests with the industry's broader development goals within a shared framework.

A Win for Reducing Investment Risk

One of the most significant expected outcomes of this decision is greater predictability for investors. In a capital-intensive industry like petrochemicals, development projects are structured around multi-year payback periods, and any sudden shift in production costs can undermine a project's economic calculations.

As a result, the impact of this decision is not confined to the price of a single service. Over the long term, it stands to improve planning capacity, make projects more attractive to capital, and ease financing for new ventures.

In effect, the fourteenth administration has approached the issue not through the narrow lens of one or a few companies' interests, but within the broader framework of the industry as a whole, investment, and the national economy.

From a Single Ruling to a New Path Forward

What sets NPC's arbitration authority over ancillary service pricing apart from an ordinary regulatory decision is the process behind it: the Ministry of Petroleum's drive to resolve the issue, NPC stepping in as the industry's specialized body, intensive sessions with holding companies and producers, consensus-building among stakeholders, hands-on arbitration experience, and, finally, formal approval by the Supreme Council for Economic Coordination.

At a time when developing the petrochemical industry requires heavy investment, long-term planning, and completion of the value chain, stability in cost variables and reduced regulatory risk matter more than ever. Seen in this light, resolving the utility pricing dispute is more than the end of an old conflict — it is part of the soft infrastructure supporting the industry's development.

Through this action, the fourteenth administration has sent a clear signal to the petrochemical industry and the private sector: industry problems should be solved through expertise, dialogue, regulation, and the creation of durable frameworks. By taking on the role of arbiter and regulator, NPC is also strengthening a position it may draw on in the future — not only to resolve pricing disputes over ancillary services, but to build greater alignment between company interests and the industry's development goals.

Viewed this way, this ruling can be seen as one expression of the fourteenth administration's Ministry of Petroleum working to reform the petrochemical business environment — an effort that, if sustained through transparency, private-sector participation, and consistent decision-making, has the potential to become more than the resolution of a single dispute. It could become a new model for governance and regulation across Iran's petrochemical industry.