Page 7 - MEOG Week 37 2022

MEOG PIPELINES & TRANSPORT MEOG

Iran offers to complete

gas pipeline to Pakistan

IRAN MOHAMMED Ali Hosseini, the Iranian ambas- reported that it had viewed official documents
sador to Pakistan, said last week that Iran’s gov- showing that Tehran and Islamabad had agreed
ernment was prepared to complete a natural gas to resume negotiations on the Iran-Pakistan gas
pipeline to neighbouring Pakistan as part of a pipeline project.
wider effort to expand ties in the energy sector. The same set of documents indicated that
“To further strengthen trade co-operation Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum had expressed
with Pakistan, completion of energy projects, interest in supplying crude oil, petrochemicals
especially the Pak-Iran gas pipeline, remains and technical services to Pakistan’s energy sector,
vital,” he told the Associated Press of Pakistan Business Recorder said.
(APP) in an interview. The project is currently The gas pipeline project has been under dis-
being discussed by a technical committee, he cussion for nearly 30 years. Iran and Pakistan
stated, without divulging the details of these signed a preliminary agreement on the scheme,
discussions. which envisioned the construction of a link
Hosseini went on to say that Iran could serve from Iran’s offshore South Pars field to Karachi,
as a key supplier of gas to Pakistan and asserted in 1995, and then expanded the plan to include
that there were no sanctions in place that might India in 1999. Since then, India has withdrawn
hinder shipments. Both Tehran and Islama- from the project, Iran has completed its section
bad recognise the importance of the matter, he of the pipeline without putting it into service and
commented. Pakistan has started work on its section of the
Co-operation in the area of gas supplies could pipeline without finishing it.
open the door for expansion of trade in other Meanwhile, both Tehran and Islamabad have
areas, he added. Iran and Pakistan have set the gone back and forth with respect to their level
goal of boosting the value of bilateral trade to of commitment to the project. The Pakistani
$5bn per year, he noted. side has wavered most frequently, as it has come
The ambassador was speaking about a week under pressure from the US government to avoid
after Business Recorder, a Pakistani newspaper, dealings with Iran.™

PRICES & PERFORMANCE

NIGC supplies 265 bcm of gas in 12 months

IRAN THE National Iranian Gas Co. (NIGC) supplied transferral was 700mn cubic metres (mcm) per
close to 265bn cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas day during the first three months of the current
between July 2021 and June this year, Tehran’s Persian calendar year (March 21-June 21), com-
Financial Tribune has reported, citing Energy pany director Gholamabbas Hosseini added.
Today. “NIGC transferred around 852 mcm of gas
Iran’s gas is mainly consumed by the domes- on January 6 this year – that was the highest daily
tic market. US sanctions in recent years have volume the company has ever transferred since
hindered gas development projects oriented it was established in 1965,” Hosseini also noted.
towards exports in that Iran has not been able to In an update, Hosseini added that the total
access the technology, finance and knowhow fast length of gas transfer pipelines in Iran has
enough to meet project targets. exceeded 38,000 kilometres. Close to 1,000 km
Nevertheless, Iran, which boasts the world’s were added in the past year.
second biggest gas reserves, still has big plans to, IGTC, a subsidiary of NIGC, oversees the
working with Russia, become a major supplier of operations of 88 gas pressure boosting stations.
gas to world markets. It sees liquefied natural gas Hosseini said the country’s gas grid is
(LNG) as the breakthrough product. Between equipped with 326 compressors, including
them, Iran and Russia believe they can dominate high-pressure gas compressors, turbo com-
the global LNG market. pressors, electro-compressors and engine
NIGC’s average daily volume of gas compressors.™

Week 37 14•September•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7