Petrochemical Industry Oral History

Maryam Asadi Jafari
Translated by Natalie Haghverdian

2019-4-23

Although the National Petrochemical Industry is the youngest member within the Oil Industry, according to the Oral History of Iran website, it plays a crucial role in the history of this industrial sector and the experience of the authorities in this field is critical to pursue economic objectives and training of the younger generation.

Mr. Abbas Sheri Moghaddam, an expert and veteran of the Iran Petrochemical Industry started his with the chemical fertilizer factories in Yazd in 60s and his memoirs are compiled in a book starting from 1966 to 2006.

The book, “Iran Oil Industry Oral History”, an interview with Mr. Abbas Sheri Moghaddam is compiled in the form of Q&A. This method is rare in oral history works. However, studying the questions makes the audience acquainted with the ups and downs of the oral history interview and its strengths and weaknesses.

The book starts with an overview of the narrator’s personal life and continues with the process of formation of the petrochemical industry in Iran and its operation: “The first phase might be titled the foundation of the petrochemical industry in Iran which was realized in collaboration with American and Japanese companies… The second phase is after the Revolution and during the imposed war. In this period, the main focus was construction of buildings and installation of development ancillaries of Shiraz petrochemical complex and repair of complexes suffering the destruction of the bomb attacks to maintain production…”

The narrator continues by reciting his experience during the war and the challenges that the petrochemical industry was exposed in the aftermath of the war and management methods and collaborations with foreign companies: “Some criticize that why during the Reconstruction Government a number of export oriented petrochemical complexes which had to be constructed near the water such as Arak, Isfahan and Tabriz were built in land? The answer is that most of these complexes were constructed during the war, when we needed the products of these complexes and the destiny of war was unclear; hence these ancillaries were constructed next to the refineries to use the refinery products and produce domestic requirements for petrochemical products…”

 The book concludes with technical debates in petrochemical industry including the financial and technical relations and it is recommended to the activists of the field to study the book. Page 102 of the book is about Euro 4 petrol: “When I was in charge of Imam Khomeini Port Petrochemical Company, petrol was not produced in the complex. However, there was MTBE production which was sold to the Petrol and Oil Product Company to add the octane number to gasoline. Of course Iranian petrol was sanctioned during the tenth cabinet. Then government had two options: one was to inform the people of rare petrol resources while people might not be prepared for. The second was temporary use of other products close to petrol produced in some complexes until a solution was found to counter the sanctions. After the issue was settled, use of this product stopped…”

The book “Iran Oil Industry Oral History: Interview with Abbas Sheri Moghaddam, a veteran in Petrochemical Industry is compiled in 164 pages by the efforts of Ms. Fatemeh Torkchi and published by the Department of Management of Museums and Oil Industry Document Archive Center.