TEHRAN, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Officials from Russian energy giant Gazprom scheduled a meeting with the members of the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline for January, executives said.
Tehran has lobbied for the IPI pipeline to deliver natural gas from its offshore Shah Deniz field to customers in Pakistan and India. Tehran and Islamabad signed agreements on the project earlier this year, and New Delhi has warmed to IPI in recent weeks.
Abubakir Shamuzov, the Gazprom representative to Iran, said the Russian gas monopoly was paying close attention to projects like IPI, the Tehran Times reports.
"As a major gas producer and supplier, Gazprom pays special attention to the development projects which are being implemented in the southern Asia," he said.
Gazprom expressed interest in a possible role in IPI during meetings with the Iranian oil minister last week, the report added.
Iranian executives with the National Iranian Oil Company said delegates would discuss IPI again during a summit in January in Iran. Tehran said it encouraged New Delhi to take part in the meeting.
