Thaindian News

Islamabad, March 17 (DPA) Pakistan has signed a deal with Iran that would lead to the construction of a crucial gas pipeline, officials said Wednesday.
The pipeline would carry 750 million cubic feet of gas from Iran’s South Pars gas field when it is completed by 2015.

Minister for Petroleum Syed Naveed Qamar expressed jubilation over the deal and termed it as an “historic achievement”.

“It is a milestone toward meeting energy needs of the country,” a statement from the Petroleum Ministry quoted Qamar as saying.

Under the Heads of Agreement signed on Tuesday between Islamabad and Tehran, Pakistan is allowed to charge a transit fee if and when India joins the project.

The pipeline was originally proposed to extend to India, which has been reluctant to go ahead with the project apparently under pressure from Washington that wants to economically isolate Iran over nuclear issue.

The project’s original cost was estimated to be $7.6 billion. But by excluding the Indian portion of the pipeline, the expected expenditures are being revised.

The pipeline is crucial for Pakistan which has seen prolonged gas outages in the winter and power-cuts in summer in recent years.

Qamar said he hoped work on the project would be started soon so that gas supplies to Pakistan could start on time.