Deora meets Iranian president on LNG project
28 Apr 2007
New Delhi: Petroleum and natural gas minister Murli Deora met Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday and sought an assurance for early implementation of the June 2005 agreement providing for supply of 5 million tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to India at a total cost of $22 billion.
Deora unscheduled stopover in Iran on Wednesday evening was evidently necessitated by the fact that the Economic Supreme Council of Iran refused to ratify the LNG agreement demanding that India make an upward revision in the price.
Deora also met his Iranian counterpart, Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh, and Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Deora was accompanied by a delegation comprising petroleum secretary MS Srinivasan and the chairmen and managing directors of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, the Gas Authority of India Limited and Engineers India Limited.
Iran''s supreme economic council has not ratified the deal at the two-year-old price of $3.215 per million British thermal unit (mBtu). Tehran is apparently asking for $5.1 per mBtu for the LNG. On its part, India was ready to offer a higher price for the additional 2.5-million tonnes of LNG that India wants beyond the already contracted volumes.
Deora
apparently stressed the need for early implementation of the LNG contract and
reiterated India''s commitment to the gas pipeline project. He also conveyed the
growing interest and keenness of India''s
private sector to participate in Iran''s economic development in cement, steel,
fertilizers, pharmaceuticals and automobiles sectors.
