Iran and Pakistan have agreed on a revised price formula for Iranian gas exports to Pakistan via a multi-billion-dollar pipeline project. After two days of talks in Tehran, the two countries updated the terms they had agreed on during their 2006 negotiations on the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project.
Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, the oil minister's special representative in the pipeline talks, announced on Wednesday that the two sides have agreed on a revised price formula as well as new price review mechanism.
The IPI project, also known as the Peace Pipeline, is a $7.4 billion venture to transfer Iranian gas to Pakistan and India after the laying of a 1,600-mile (2,600-kilometer) pipeline.
Ghanimifard said the amendments were necessary due tochanges in the energy market since 2006.
"One of the changes (to the review formula) ... was that a year before the commencement of delivery of the gas we are going to have a price review. Of course, this can be an option that either side can use," he told Reuters.
He said the changes should be approved by the officials of both countries, adding that this could lead to setting a date for signing a contract.
Ghanimifard, who is also the deputy head of the National Iranian Oil Company, expressed hope that gas deliveries to Pakistan would begin five years after signing the deal.
Mounting tension between Islamabad and New Delhi has stalled talks on the completion of the project. Iran, Pakistan and India have stepped up efforts to resolve differences, which are mainly over prices and transit fees.
Regarding India's participation in the project, Ghanimifard said, "Iran and Pakistan agreed that any time India would like to come and join us we would welcome them, and we have even put clauses in the contract that they would have access to Iranian gas without any problem."
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Topic: Iran, Pakistan closer to sealing IPI deal (Read 569 times)