Iran, Pakistan Renew Gas Pipeline Talks

Iran and Pakistan are holding expert level talks this week about the change in the time frame of construction of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, reports Shana News Agency.

Ali Majedi, who is deputy minister for international affairs, said a delegation of Pakistani experts is in Tehran to hold talks on the pipeline.

The Pakistani delegation would hold talks with Iranian authorities to set a new mutually agreed timeframe for the project.

Under the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement (GSPA) signed earlier with Iran by the outgoing PPP government in 2009, the first flow of gas to Pakistan should have started by Dec 31, 2014, adds Shana.

The two countries are supposed to construct the pipeline within their respective territories. Iran has already completed 907 kilometers of its 1,227-kilometer share of the pipeline. Pakistan is yet to begin work on the pipeline which would be laid on its soil.

According to Shana, failure on part of a party entails penalties equivalent to the price of daily gas quantities that is around $3 million for every day’s delay in completion of the project.

Iran can also claim billions of dollars in compensation for any breach of contract, the news agency adds.

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