Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline will reach the zero border point in the first half of next Iranian year of 1392, Managing Director of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), Javad Oji, said on Wednesday. Oji, noting that significant steps were taken in the 9th and 10th governments in country’s gas industry, said the 56-inch Iranshahr-Pakistan border Chabahar-Zahedan pipeline will make 90 percent progress by March 19, marking end of the Iranian year of 1391.
He said the pipeline will be completely operational by end of Shahrivar (the sixth Iranian month).
Islamabad has reiterated its determination to cooperate with Iran in energy sector and pursue Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project.
Speaking recently, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Moazzam Ahmad Khan, said the Pakistani government is determined to complete the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project before 2014 and other energy projects with the US having nothing to do with them.
Ahmad Khan dismissed reports that the United States plans to invest $280 million in Pakistan’s power sector in return for Islamabad’s commitment not to pursue the multi-billion-dollar deal with Iran. The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, projected to cost $1.2-1.5 billion, is aimed to export a daily amount of 21.5 million cubic meters of Iranian gas to Pakistan.
Maximum daily gas transfer capacity of the 56-inch pipeline — which runs over 900 kilometers from Iran’s southern port city of Assalouyeh in Bushehr Province to the city of Iranshahr in Sistan-Baluchestan Province — is estimated to hit 110 million cubic meters.
Iran has already constructed more than 900 kilometers of the pipeline on its soil.
