Top petroleum officials of India, Pakistan and Iran on Monday held talks on pricing, trilateral framework and appointment of consultants to carry out feasibility studies on the proposed 2,600 km long IPI gas pipeline.
The deliberations came amidst reports that there were sharp differences between Iran and Pakistan in their bilateral talks held on Sunday during which the two countries clashed on the issue of pricing and modalities to supply gas to India.
Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan, heading a 10-member Indian delegation, joined the two-day talks on the seven billion dollar pipeline to discuss issues like pricing, trilateral framework and appointment of consultants to carry out feasibility studies.
Sharp differences surfaced between Iran and Pakistan during talks Iranian Deputy Oil Minister M H Hosseinian held with Secretary Petroleum Ahmad Waqar. The two held a bilateral meeting ahead of two-day trilateral meeting.
Besides differences on pricing, Iran reportedly sought an assurance from Pakistan that it would not sell gas to India under the IPI, local daily The News reported.
However, Pakistan did not agree, saying that once the gas had been purchased, the seller had nothing to do with it, it said.
Differences also arose between the two countries over the issue of pricing as they proposed divergent price formulae for the seven billion dollars gas pipeline project.
Iran had come up with a new formula, linking the price of its gas with South East Asia-Qatar market, under which the delivery price offered to Pakistan was very high, reports in the media quoted officials as saying.
To offset this, Pakistan put up a counter-proposal setting the price at 30 per cent of the price of oil it imported from the UAE and asked Iran to respond by Monday.
The two formulae have a difference of more than 3 dollars per MMBTU (million British thermal unit). The two sides, they said, had agreed to keep the discussions on prices strictly confidential.
Iran reportedly quoted a gas sale price in the range of 6-8 dollars per MMBTU while Pakistan's offer ranged between 3.5 and four dollars per MMBTU.
Hosseinian said that besides pricing and finalisation of trilateral framework, Monday's talks would focus on finalising an MOU to be signed by ministers of the three countries later.
The 2,600 km long pipeline project is already facing pressures from United States as Washington is strongly advising India and Pakistan not to opt for the project in view of its emerging confrontation with Tehran over its nuclear programme.
