NEW DELHI, 30 June 2007 — If negotiations continue on the right path, the much talked-about Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project should be operational by 2011, a top Iranian official said yesterday. “We are assuring both India and Pakistan that they will receive 30 million cubic meter per day of gas each, and the pipeline will start operation by 2011,” the special representative of Iran’s Ministry of Oil, Ghanimi Fard, said.
The two-day trilateral talks, in which issues regarding the pipeline were discussed, concluded yesterday. Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan, who led the Indian delegation, said that a few remaining irritants will be resolved in the forthcoming ministerial meeting. “All major elements have been thrashed out, apart from minor issues which will also be resolved by the end of July during the ministerial level meeting in Pakistan,” Srinivasan said.
While the Iranian delegation was led by Ghanimi Fard that of Pakistan was headed by Petroleum Secretary Ahmed Waqar.
The heads of the three countries will meet in Tehran to sign the final deal, Ghanimi Fard said. Iran formally extended invitations to India and Pakistan for signing the deal.
“The meeting may take place by July end or August,” Ghanimi Fard said after meeting Indian Petroleum Minister Murli Deora. Before the heads of three nations meet, Deora will meet with his Pakistani counterpart to finalize the remaining bilateral issues.
Most of the major issues in the project had been resolved and “only small things remain,” according to Deora. “All three nations are totally committed to the project,” he said.
The final agreement, expected to be reached in a few weeks, will bring to a close the negotiations that began in 1994.
Under an understanding reached between the three nations, Ghanimi Fard said that the pipeline would be laid separately in the three countries. Iran would lay a 1,100-km pipeline from the Gulf to the Iran-Pakistan border while Pakistan would lay a 1,035 km pipeline from its border with Iran to the Indian border. The gas would then be piped by India to consumption centers. Remaining noncommittal on the particular phase of the giant South Pars field from where gas would be supplied to India and Pakistan, Ghanimi Fard said: “The entire South Pars field is for the project.”
India and Pakistan will sign separate gas purchase agreements with Iran and will take deliveries of gas at Iran-Pakistan border. India will separately enter into an agreement with Pakistan for transporting gas through its territory.
A few issues that need to be resolved between the three parties include agreement on how frequently should the gas price be revised. With the initial gas price agreed upon, India and Pakistan are willing to pay energy-rich Iran $4.93 per million British thermal units for its gas. “Iran wants the pricing formula to be revised every three years based on global fuel prices,” an official said. While India and Pakistan have reached an agreement on gas transportation charges, the issue of transit fee has still to be sorted out.
“The transit fee demanded by Pakistan will be discussed at the ministerial meeting next month since the issue is more political than economic,” an official said. The transit fee demanded by Islamabad is $0.493 per mBtu while India has offered $0.20 per mBtu. “A few creases have to be erased, and we can get down to drawing out a route map for the pipeline,” he said.
