04 February 2014
A Pakistani delegation is in Tehran to discuss with Iranian officials a new deadline for completing the multibillion-dollar pipeline that will carry natural gas from Iran to Pakistan (IP).
The team, comprising officials from Pakistan's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources as well as Inter-State Gas Company (ISGC), flew to Tehran on Sunday to hold talks with authorities from the National Iranian Gas Exports Company (NIGEC), The Nation reported.
The Pakistani delegation aims to convince Iranian energy officials to accept an extension of the original deadline.
Under the original agreement sealed between Iran and Pakistan, the first Iranian gas delivery to Pakistan should start by December 31, 2014.
The two countries are responsible for the completion of the IP pipeline project within their territories. If Pakistan fails to do so by the end of 2014, it will have to pay a daily penalty of $1 million to Iran until the project is completed.
However, Iran has agreed not to penalize Pakistan for missing the deadline.
Iran has already built its 900-kilometer share of the pipeline on its soil and is waiting for the 700-kilometer Pakistani side of the pipeline to be built.
The United States has long been threatening Pakistan with economic sanctions, if Islamabad goes ahead with the pipeline project.
The IP pipeline aims to help Pakistan overcome its growing energy needs at a time when the country of over 180 million people is grappling with serious energy shortages.
Iran and energy-hungry Pakistan signed an agreement on the construction of the IP gas pipeline in 1995.
A Pakistani delegation is in Tehran to discuss with Iranian officials a new deadline for completing the multibillion-dollar pipeline that will carry natural gas from Iran to Pakistan (IP).
The team, comprising officials from Pakistan's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources as well as Inter-State Gas Company (ISGC), flew to Tehran on Sunday to hold talks with authorities from the National Iranian Gas Exports Company (NIGEC), The Nation reported.
The Pakistani delegation aims to convince Iranian energy officials to accept an extension of the original deadline.
Under the original agreement sealed between Iran and Pakistan, the first Iranian gas delivery to Pakistan should start by December 31, 2014.
The two countries are responsible for the completion of the IP pipeline project within their territories. If Pakistan fails to do so by the end of 2014, it will have to pay a daily penalty of $1 million to Iran until the project is completed.
However, Iran has agreed not to penalize Pakistan for missing the deadline.
Iran has already built its 900-kilometer share of the pipeline on its soil and is waiting for the 700-kilometer Pakistani side of the pipeline to be built.
The United States has long been threatening Pakistan with economic sanctions, if Islamabad goes ahead with the pipeline project.
The IP pipeline aims to help Pakistan overcome its growing energy needs at a time when the country of over 180 million people is grappling with serious energy shortages.
Iran and energy-hungry Pakistan signed an agreement on the construction of the IP gas pipeline in 1995.
© Iran Daily 2014
