By an OGJ Correspondent
KARACHI, Nov. 5 -- Pakistan Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Chaudhry Nauraiz Shakoor has confirmed that the previously proposed gas pipeline from Iran to India, via Pakistan, had been shelved, but Tehran has agreed to export natural gas to Pakistan.
Shakoor said technical experts from Pakistan and Iran would meet in about 2 months to discuss the route and other details related to laying a pipeline in the two countries.
The minister said that the land route for a gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan has been under discussion for a decade, but has been on hold because of India's reservations, although India needs natural gas for its fast-developing industrial and domestic use.
Despite assurances from Pakistan, however, India has been wary of building any pipeline across Pakistan, with which it has fought three wars since independence. The two nuclear-armed foes went to the brink of another war in 2002, although relations have thawed in recent months.
India also was invited to participate in the 1,300-1,600 km Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) pipeline that would carry 20-30 billion cu m/year of natural gas (OGJ Online, June 3, 2003).
At the same time, however, India has embarked upon an aggressive exploration program and may not need that gas if it continues to find large reserves of its own (OGJ Online, July 9, 2003).
Other proposals
Pakistan, which currently produces about 3.4 bcfd of gas and has estimated gas reserves of about 42 tcf, is forecast to face a shortfall of more than 17 million cu m/day of gas by 2009-10 and has been actively investigating the possibility of piping natural gas from energy-rich countries in the region.
One of these is the TAP line, and Pakistan also has held talks with Qatar for a separate pipeline to supply natural gas.
While on tour in Iran with Pakistan Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali Oct. 22, Shakoor had said after a meeting with Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh that Iran had proposed to Pakistan that the two countries build the gas pipeline between them, not continue to wait for India to make up its mind.
The minister said India could connect to the proposed pipeline later, if it chose. "But for the time being, this pipeline would be laid between Pakistan and Iran only," he added.
Shakoor said at the time that Pakistan would study the viability of the proposal and that there were various proposals on the table for piping gas from Iran, including one through Iran's southeastern port of Chahbahar to Pakistan's southwestern coastal town of Gwadar.
Iran's CNG expansion
Shakoor said the two countries also would sign an agreement this month for cooperation in the field of compressed natural gas (CNG). Pakistan is one of the largest users of CNG as substitute fuel, and Iran seeks to benefit from that experience. Recently a 10-member delegation of Iranian officials visited Pakistan to explore this area. The Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan will provide assistance and technical expertise to the Iranian Oil Ministry on building a network of CNG stations in Iran.
Shakoor said the two sides discussed other ways the two countries could mutually benefit from existing potential and opportunities in the oil and gas sector, including onshore and offshore exploration, regional pipeline projects, and updating of refineries.
The two sides also discussed the issue of petroleum products smuggling and agreed to establish stringent preventative measures at the borders, as smuggling is causing losses running into billions annually to Pakistan's national exchequer (OGJ Online, Sept. 30, 2003).
