Iran, Pakistan to finalize IPI deal

SHANA cited Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, the special representative of Iran’s oil minister to the IPI talks, as saying that the sides are to set the date of signing the final contract in the meeting.

Pakistan will import as much as 750 million cubic feet of gas per day from Iran to meet its growing energy needs.

The Iran–Pakistan–India gas pipeline, also known as the IPI pipeline or the Peace Pipeline, is a proposed 2,775-kilometer pipeline to deliver natural gas from Iran to Pakistan and India.

The project is expected to greatly benefit India and Pakistan, which do not have sufficient natural gas to meet their rapidly increasing domestic demand for energy.

The negotiations over the project were initiated in 1994 but there are still several obstacles to closing the three-way deal due to tension between India and Pakistan.

NK/MRK

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MNA