01-23-2008, 04:39 PM
[center]<b><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>Iran wants to sign IPI pipeline deal with new government</span></b>[/center]
<b><i>* Deal signing now likely in March - Draft will not be amended</i></b>
<b>ISLAMABAD : Iran has said that it wanted to sign a Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) on the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project with an elected Pakistani government, sources told Daily Times on Tuesday.
Sources said that the signing of the GSPA was scheduled in Abu Dhabi this week, but was postponed because the Iranian government said it wanted to sign the deal with an elected rather than a caretaker government.
Deal signing : The signing of the deal is now likely in March as the elections are scheduled for February 18.</b>
No amendments were likely to the draft of the deal, sources said. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet has approved the draft. The ECC has also approved a formal request for an additional 1.05 billion cubic feet per day if India did not join the project. Pakistan will import 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas from Iran if India stays out of the project. The signing of the deal had earlier been delayed because Iran said it was awaiting approval from its board on the project.
Technical and financial feasibility studies of the project are already underway and expression of interests is likely to be invited through international bidding.
Officials earlier said the price of the imported gas would be linked to Japan Crude Cocktail. A 56-inch pipeline will be laid if India joins the project, and a 36-inch pipeline otherwise.
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