Energy Sector - 2

[Naresh]

[center]<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Iran to offer new price for LNG deal revival</span></b>[/center]

NEW DELHI: India and Iran on Thursday reviewed the status of the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project and the LNG deal. Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who arrived here on Thursday, called on prime minister Manmohan Singh and discussed the proposed gas pipeline as well as Iran’s nuclear programme.

Mr Mottaki’s visit to India comes at a time when the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are trying to break a deadlock on imposing sanctions on Iran for continuing with its uranium enrichment programme. <b>New Delhi today reiterated its stand of supporting Teheran’s right to pursue a peaceful nuclear programme as long as it fulfilled its international obligations under the IAEA.</b>

Mr Mottaki is also scheduled to meet minister of petroleum and natural gas Murli Deora for further discussions on the IPI project and the pricing in the LNG deal. <b>Mr Mottaki, according to an agency report, said that Iran was ready to offer a new price for reviving the LNG deal. Tehran’s earlier demand of $5.10 per MBTU for the supply of 5m tonnes of liquefied natural gas was rejected by India.</b>

Mr Mottaki met external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and held “detailed discussions” on a range of bilateral issues including the pipeline project. The discussions continued over a dinner hosted by Mr Mukherjee. “It was felt that the economic potential of the relationship needed to be actualised to the maximum. In this context, the possibilities of closer co-operation in the field of energy, including the status of the IPI pipeline were reviewed,” said ministry of external affairs spokesperson Navtej Sarna.

The external affairs minister told his Iranian counterpart that Indian companies were interested in investing in Iran and asked for the early conclusion of a bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement as well as an agreement for avoidance of double taxation to “provide the necessary juridical basis for promoting” investment.

Mr Mottaki also extended an invitation to the prime minister to visit Iran, the spokesperson said. Iran-India ties have been under strain recently, with India voting against Iran’s nuclear programme at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Soon afterwards Iran hiked the price of the gas for the proposed pipeline leading to conjectures that it was in retaliation for the IAEA vote.

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