Iran hammers out a gas pipeline deal with Pakistan
14 Jun 2010
Iran finally pushed through a long-overdue gas pipeline deal with Pakistan sidelining a reluctant India, whose interest in the costly gas deal further waned in the wake of discovery of new and cheaper shale gas sources.
India, which sought a reduction in the offer price of Iranian gas, had also sought delivery of gas on its borders with Pakistan as it was reluctant to take the risk of transporting gas through Pakistan's volatile north-west.
Iran yesterday finally managed to strike a gas pipeline deal with Pakistan, skirting the original Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline plan.
The Iran-Pakistan deal, however, is still on paper and may take another four years for Iranian gas to start flowing into Pakistan.
The agreement covers the export of about 750 million cubic feet per day (cfd) of gas from Iran's Paras gasfield to Pakistan through an international pipeline.
Iran said it would soon start building the final phase of the multi-billion dollar pipeline that would supply over 21 million cubic metres (742 million cubic feet) of natural gas daily from Iran to Pakistan by 2014.
