Pakistan expects pipeline project to materialise after Iran’s nuclear deal

Pakistan's federal minister for petroleum and natural resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that Pakistan would find an opportunity to complete the proposed IP gas pipeline project within a year.

The minister said while talking to a news channel, that trade restrictions on Iran could be lifted following agreement between Iran and world powers.

He added, Pakistan had stepped up efforts "to materialise Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project," following the signing of a deal on Tehran's nuclear programme.

He said his meeting with his Iranian counterpart was expected next month.

Prominent economist Iqbal Hamid Khan too had said that the Iran-Pakistan pipeline had become more significant now.

He added that pipeline project could only be pursued if sanctions against Iran were lifted.

According to Khan, the price at which Iran would sell gas to Pakistan was a little high, but the electricity generated from imported gas would help resolve the shortage of electricity, and also help reduce power tariff.

He said that a two-year period was required for completion of the project if work on it was started right away on the Pakistan side.

The multi-billion-dollar pipeline project had been hit by sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme, with foreign institutions reluctant to fund the construction of the Pakistani section of the pipeline.

It has been estimated that completion of the Pakistani section of the pipeline would take two years if the work started immediately.