Iran has agreed, on Pakistan's request, to provide $500 million for construction of Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline. This was stated by Prime Minister's Advisor on Petroleum Dr Asim Hussain here on Tuesday while talking to reporters after inaugurating Annual Technical Conference (ATC).
The conference is being organised by Pakistan Association of Petroleum Geoscientists (PAPG), an affiliate of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), with the support of the Pakistan Chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) with the theme 'E&P Technologies, Innovations, New Frontiers' Dr Asim Hussain said that Iran had assured Pakistan that it would provide $500 for building the gas pipeline inside Pakistan out of which $250 million would be provided directly to the Pakistani government and the remainder of the amount would be provided via an Iranian bank.
The government had imposed Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) on all gas consumers to finance the construction of imported gas projects, including the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline and other energy project, Dr Asim said. The government has already invited bids for the construction of 785-kilometre-long pipeline from pre-qualified parties. Iran has already built 900 kilometers of the 1,100-kilometre-long pipeline within its borders.
Dr Asim said that the government planned to gradually do away with the CNG industry and the commodity would be available only for 1000cc vehicles and public transport as fuel. Asim said that for strictly implementing the plan, the government had held discussions with all provinces, adding that the CNG sector was consuming 425 Million Cubic Feet per Day (MMCFD) of gas, which would be halted.
The adviser said that the apex court had helped the government in the CNG price issue. Those who wanted larger profit margins had closed their CNG outlets, he said. Dr Asim further said he would submit a policy guideline to the Supreme Court on Wednesday (today). Domestic consumers, he said, were assigned a priority in addition to fertiliser and other industries.
The government was also working on the Shale Gas Policy Framework, which was nearing finalisation, along with the preparation of Marginal and Stranded Gas and Low Pressure Gas policies as well as Guidelines for Flared Gases to tap available resources for the benefit of the country. "LPG Policy 2012 is also under preparation," he said. The Government is also working on bringing in gas through Iran-Pakistan and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline projects to meet the growing energy demand in the country.
Additionally, the import of gas from Qatar and import of LNG was also being considered. In terms of expanding the domestic gas network and providing new connections, Dr Asim said that during its tenure, the present government had provided gas connections to 1.6 million consumers, while laying 879-kilometre-long transmission lines.