Gharb will be responsible both for securing the financing for the five new plants and for supplying the ethylene from olefins 11 in Assaluyeh via the new pipeline. The project is intended to bring some of the advantages of Iran's mineral wealth to the poorer western provinces.

The five projects will be: Gachsaran Petrochemical Companyin Kohgilooye and Boyer-Ahmad Province, with capacity of 400,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) and another 100,000 t/y in other polyethylene products; Lorestan Petrochemical Companyat Khoramabad, with capacity of 300,000 t/y of linear high-density polyethylene (LHDPE); Kermanshah Polymer Company, with capacity of 300,000 t/y of high-density polyethylene (HDPE); Kurdistan Petrochemical Companyat Sanandaj, with capacity of 300,000 t/y of low-density polyethylene (LDPE); and Mahabad Petrochemical Companyin West Azerbaijan province, with capacity of 300,000 t/y of LHDPE.

All five new project companies will be 100 per cent owned by Gharb. Each will be given feedstock of slightly more than 300,000 t/y of ethylene from the western pipeline loop. This in turn will be fed mainly from the olefins 11 cracker, which will have capacity of 1.2 million t/y. Additional feedstock will be supplied from excess ethylene capacity at Assaluyeh. The pipeline will also have the advantage of allowing temporary shortfalls in capacity at either of the two main petrochemical hubs to be covered by spare capacity at the other. The pipeline will stretch some 1,500 kilometres, with diameters of 10 and 20 inches and five-six pumping stations.

Gharb's ownership structure will be: NPC 30 per cent; Oil Ministry pensions funds - 20 per cent; Arak Petrochemical Company- 10 per cent; Bank Melli International Investment Company- 5 per cent; the Social Security Organisation - 5 per cent; Pension Funds Investment Company- 5 per cent; Ghadir Investment Company- 5 per cent; Petrochemical Investment Company- 5 per cent; Modaber Investment Company- 5 per cent; Iran Industrial Development Company- 2.5 per cent; and Rena Investment Company- 2.5 per cent.

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