In a major development Petroleum Minister Dr. Asim Hussain said on Tuesday that the Iran Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project would be completed two years ahead of time by December 2012.
Talking with reporters after the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum, he said that the construction of the pipeline would be expedited to complete it two year earlier than the proposed date of starting operation in December 2014.
On a question related to financing of the project, he assured that the financing would be made available. The estimated construction cost of the 781 kilometers long and 42 inch diameter pipeline is $1.5 billion. Pakistan has sought financial assistance from China for the project. However, the minister did not say as to where exactly the finances would be made available.
Petroleum Secretary Ejaz Chaudhary informed the committee on July 18 that the detailed feasibility and construction of the project would be undertaken side by side to commission the pipeline before its due date of December 2014.
Pakistan and Iran had signed the gas sale purchase agreement in June 2010. A segmented approach has been adopted for the IP gas pipeline project whereby each participant country would be responsible for building and operating the pipeline transportation network in their respective territories.
Pakistan would be getting 0.75 bcfd gas from the pipeline. The pipeline will be constructed to transport gas from the Iran-Pakistan border to Pakistan off-take point near Nawabshah. ILF of Germany and NESPAK are assisting Inter State Gas Systems Limited as engineering and project management consultants. The approximate length of the Pakistan segment of the IP gas pipeline is 781 kilometers extending from the border to the gas off-take point near Nawabshah, Sindh.
Pakistan gas supplies have declined to 4 bcfd while the demand has risen to 6.2 bcfd. The demand is estimated to rise to 8 bcfd in next few years. Pakistan is working on gas imports through pipelines from Iran and Turkmenistan while also looking into alternatives like LNG.
Iran has an estimated 982 trillion cubic feet (TCF) or 27.8 trillion cubic meters (TCM) of proven natural gas reserves which are the world’s second largest after Russia. Around 62 percent of Iranian natural gas reserves are located in non-associated fields, and have not been fully developed. Major natural gas fields include South and North Pars, Tabnak, and Kangan. The most significant gas field in Iran is the offshore South Pars field, which is estimated to have 450 TCF proven natural gas reserves. South Pars is nominated gas supply source for the IP project.
Iran-Pak gas pipeline to be completed by Dec 2012
