By NNN-FNA,
Islamabad : Islamabad is resolved to import gas supplies from Iran through Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline which will be inaugurated within the next three years, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said.
The long-awaited natural gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan will be completed in three years time, Gilani reiterated in a TV interview.
“We are working on Iran-Pakistan gas pipe line project as it is vital to overcome the energy challenges of the country and it would be completed in three years time,” he added.
In a major breakthrough on March 20, 2009, the Pakistani government approved Iran’s proposed pricing formula for gas supplies to the South Asian nation.
Subsequently, Tehran and Islamabad signed a final agreement to launch implementation of the project.
Tehran and Islamabad also sealed a final contract for the start of Iran’s gas exports to Pakistan through the multi-billion-dollar pipeline in spring 2014.
The last annex of the agreement for export of Iran’s gas to Pakistan was signed on June 13 by Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mir-Kazzemi and Managing Director of Pakistan’s Inter-State Gas Company Naeem Sharafat in a meeting also attended by the Iranian oil ministry’s representative in gas talks with Pakistan Seyed Reza Kassayeezadeh.
The 2700-kilometer long pipeline was to supply gas for Pakistan and India which are suffering a lack of energy sources, but India has evaded talks. Last year Iran and Pakistan declared they would finalize the agreement bilaterally if India continued to be absent in the meetings.
According to the project proposal, the pipeline will begin from Iran’s Assalouyeh Energy Zone in the south and stretch over 1,100 km through Iran. In Pakistan, it will pass through Baluchistan and Sindh but officials now say the route may be changed if China agrees to the project.
The gas will be supplied from the South Pars field. The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 22 billion cubic meters of natural gas per annum, which is expected to be later raised to 55 billion cubic meters. It is expected to cost $7.4 billion.