Iran to Start Gas Exports to Pakistan Through Pipeline in 2013
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By Ali Sheikholeslami
Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Iran will start exporting natural gas to Pakistan from 2013, after the neighbors agreed yesterday to build a $7.6 billion pipeline.
Construction of the so-called Peace Pipeline, which may be extended to India, will begin next year, Iranian state television reported, citing negotiations in Islamabad. The link will be able to export 30 million cubic meters of gas a day to Pakistan, the channel said.
If India joins the project, the pipeline would be longer than 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles). The project has been delayed more than a decade because of political and security concerns as Pakistan fights Taliban militants in its northwest. The U.S. wants the South Asian nation to abandon the pipeline to isolate Iran, which it says is building nuclear weapons.
Iran, which has the worlds second-largest natural-gas reserves after Russia, is in talks with Pakistan and India to export gas through the pipeline from its South Pars field, which extends from Qatars North Field to form the largest known gas deposit in the world. Tensions between India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, have delayed the project.
Pakistan and Iran have said they will go ahead with the project even if India doesnt participate.
Iran to Start Gas Exports to Pakistan Through Pipeline in 2013 - Bloomberg.com
Iran, Pakistan Start Technical Talks On Gas Pipeline - SPA
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Iran and Pakistan started talks Monday to finalize the technical terms of a deal to build a pipeline to supply Iranian gas to the energy-hungry south Asian nation, state-run Saudi Press Agency, or SPA, reported late Monday.
The talks, which will last until Sept.2, will also discuss the gas delivery point in Pakistan, the agency reported.
Iran and Pakistan formalized an agreement on the pipeline in May after years of negotiations over the terms of the deal.
The two parties have agreed to complete the project by 2013, SPA said.
Iran has the world's second-biggest gas reserves after Russia, but U.S. sanctions, in existence for nearly three decades, are making it increasingly difficult for the country to access technology to develop its gas industry.
Iran, Pakistan Start Technical Talks On Gas Pipeline - SPA - WSJ.com