Islamabad: Pakistan and Iran have agreed to go ahead with a bilateral gas pipeline if India does not join the project to bring cheap Iranian gas to South Asia.
At the conclusion of three-day technical talks between Pakistan and Iran yesterday, both countries said that the project will forge ahead despite US reservations.
Pakistan Petroleum Secretary, Ahmad Waqar, who headed his side at the talks, told reporters here that Pakistan and Iran had reached an agreement on basic principles of a gas pricing formula and decided to work on a bilateral Iran-Pakistan pipeline regardless of India's involvement in the project.
Waqar also played down the threat of sanctions against Iran. "Pakistan is viewing this project keeping in view its national interests. We need energy to sustain economic growth," Daily Times quoted Waqar as saying.
Waqar said that a "broad-based agreement" had been reached on pricing, but Pakistan and Iran will continue to examine each other's proposals on pricing and Iran would provide a Gas Sales Purchase Agreement to Pakistan in a week to which they will reciprocate as early as possible.
Both sides agreed to a project structure wherein gas would be delivered at the Iran-Pakistan border under a supply agreement, the daily reported.
Waqar said the pipeline will run through the Bhong area in Rahim Yar Khan district.
He said that they had also agreed to enhance off-take volume from 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) to 2.8 bcfd in case the project was implemented bilaterally.
Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad Hadi Nejad Hosseinian, who headed an eight-member Iranian team at the talks, said he did not expect United Nations sanctions due to its nuclear programme to affect the gas pipeline to India and Pakistan or the country's oil
and gas sector.
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