According to the NPC, Hassan Abbaszadeh spoke Sunday at the third Work, Industry, and Construction Exhibition at Iran University of Science and Technology. Noting the 60-year history of Iran’s petrochemical industry—particularly in the post-Islamic Revolution era—he said significant investments have been made in the sector. With new projects coming online, production capacity will soon exceed 100 million tons.

He highlighted inefficiencies in the country’s energy consumption, stating that around 48% of natural gas is used in residential and commercial sectors, while 26% is consumed by power plants. Despite having some of the world’s largest gas reserves and producing over 1 billion cubic meters of processed gas annually, Iran faces imbalances in gas, electricity, and energy supply. He stressed the need to utilize all available resources to address these shortages.

Abbaszadeh outlined potential collaboration between universities and the petrochemical industry, suggesting support for research theses—particularly those focused on optimizing water, energy, and related industrial equipment. Petrochemical companies could also benefit from academic expertise in unconventional water extraction methods, such as treating municipal wastewater for industrial use, deep-water extraction, desalination, and water transfer from northern and southern water basins. Additionally, implementing hybrid cooling tower systems could reduce industrial water consumption by at least 30% in petrochemical cooling towers.