Pakistan’s Energy Savior: Iran
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari arrives in Iran today to sign a series of economic agreements, including one that finalizes the Iran-Pakistan natural gas pipeline.At the end of January, the two sides agreed to set up a joint construction company to build the portion of the pipeline that will be on Pakistani soil. Iran is providing $500 million to finance a third of the project with Pakistan covering the remaining $1 billion. 781 km of the 1,881 km pipeline will be on Pakistani soil.
The two sides initially said construction of the Pakistani pipeline would be finished in 15 months. More recent reports from Iran’s state media have said it may take up to 22 months. Construction began on February 20th.
Iran has said it has nearly completed the pipeline on its side of the border.
Once finished, the pipeline will carry 21.5 million cubic meters of Iranian gas to Pakistan daily. On the Iranian side the pipeline will stretch from the South Pars gas fields in southwestern Iran to the Pakistani border in southeastern Iran. In Pakistan, the pipeline would travel through Baluchistan on its way to Islamabad’s energy grid in the southern part of Sindh province. The pipeline could conceivably be extended in the future to India or China.http://thediplomat.com/pacific-money/2013/02/27/pakistans-energy-savior-iran/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+the-diplomat+%28The+Diplomat+RSS%29
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