12-28-2006, 09:12 PM
Pakistani and Iranian experts on Sunday concluded their first round of talks on the multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline in Islamabad and discussed its "technical, financial and legal aspects", officials said.
"The meeting also considered the issues of gas sales and purchase pricing, project structuring and feasibility study of the project," according to a statement issued by Pakistan Petroleum Ministry.
Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Muhammad Hadi Nejad Hosseinian and Pakistan Secretary Petroleum Ahmed Waqar led their delegations respectively at the eighth meeting of the Iran-Pakistan bilateral working group.
A two-day trilateral working group meeting of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project will be held on Monday, the statement said.
It is the second expert level meeting in less than a month to review progress on the project to involve 7.1 billion U.S. dollars.
The two sides met in the last week of April in Islamabad and discussed technical and financial issues, focusing on the finalization of pricing formula.
Pakistan sent a draft gas pricing formula to Iran based on its domestic gas pricing mechanism and the two sides discussed the formula in the talks on Sunday.
If the project be implemented, the 2,670-km-pipeline will have 1,115 km in Iran, 705 km in Pakistan and 850 km in India, the statement said, adding that despite extensive discussions on the project, the United States has not given up its opposition to the project.
But Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Saturday that Pakistan would go ahead with the gas pipeline project and that the project was likely to be finalized this year.
"The meeting also considered the issues of gas sales and purchase pricing, project structuring and feasibility study of the project," according to a statement issued by Pakistan Petroleum Ministry.
Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Muhammad Hadi Nejad Hosseinian and Pakistan Secretary Petroleum Ahmed Waqar led their delegations respectively at the eighth meeting of the Iran-Pakistan bilateral working group.
A two-day trilateral working group meeting of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project will be held on Monday, the statement said.
It is the second expert level meeting in less than a month to review progress on the project to involve 7.1 billion U.S. dollars.
The two sides met in the last week of April in Islamabad and discussed technical and financial issues, focusing on the finalization of pricing formula.
Pakistan sent a draft gas pricing formula to Iran based on its domestic gas pricing mechanism and the two sides discussed the formula in the talks on Sunday.
If the project be implemented, the 2,670-km-pipeline will have 1,115 km in Iran, 705 km in Pakistan and 850 km in India, the statement said, adding that despite extensive discussions on the project, the United States has not given up its opposition to the project.
But Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Saturday that Pakistan would go ahead with the gas pipeline project and that the project was likely to be finalized this year.