Work on Karachi-Lahore Gas Pipeline to Start in July

Work on Karachi-Lahore gas pipeline will start in July, Pakistani oil minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Wednesday.

The pipeline, which will connect LNG terminals in Karachi with consumption centres near Lahore, is expected to be complete by end of 2017, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported Thursday.

In October, Moscow and Islamabad signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of a gas pipeline. In December, Rostec announced that its subsidiary, RT Global Resources, would be building oil and LNG pipelines and terminals in Pakistan with total cost of about $3 billion.

Abbasi, while speaking at an event in Islamabad, reiterated that LNG was the only cost-effective solution for the country’s energy problems.

On the issue of Iran gas pipeline, he said the two countries would begin talks next month in the wake of lifting of international sanctions against Tehran.