‘IP pipeline project beneficial to Iran, Pakistan’

Pakistani Minister of Oil and Natural Resources Asim Hussain says the construction of Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline will benefit both countries.

In a meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Saturday, Hussain stressed the necessity of completing the pipeline project as soon as possible.

The Pakistani official arrived in Iran earlier in the day to discuss the financing of IP gas pipeline project with Iranian officials.

Hussain said on September 4 that that gas pipeline project would become fully operational in 2014, adding that, “Surveys for the project are due to be completed before October 2012 and construction can start as early as December 2012.

The Iranian foreign minister, for his part, reiterated the importance of continuing talks between Iranian and Pakistani officials regarding bilateral ties.

The two officials discussed ways of expanding economic relations between Tehran and Islamabad particularly in the field of energy.

Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, projected to cost USD1.2-1.5 billion, is aimed to export a daily amount of 21.5 million cubic meters of Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.

Iran has already constructed more than 900 kilometers of the pipeline on its soil.