
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Iran and Pakistan will sign formal agreements on the construction of a natural gas pipeline from the South Pars field as early as the weekend, officials said.
Naveed Qamar, the Pakistani minister for petroleum, said both sides plan to sign off on the agreement for the natural gas pipeline at a ceremony in Ankara planned before Feb. 15, Pakistan's Daily Times reports.
He added his country is facing a looming natural gas shortage, making the pipeline a matter of national importance.
Iran wants to ship some of the gas from the offshore South Pars complex, the largest in the world, east through the long-delayed pipeline to eastern markets.
Pakistan signed an agreement with Tehran in 2009 to secure 750 million cubic feet of natural gas per day through the pipeline.
Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, blamed Washington for trying to interfere with pipeline plans, meanwhile, by courting New Delhi.
Washington opposes the project because of the economic benefits it would give to Iran, which is facing punitive economic sanctions for its controversial nuclear program.
In January Richard Holbrooke, Washington's special envoy to the region, made special gas offers to Islamabad in an effort to persuade the government to back away from the project.
China has re-emerged as a possible alternative to India in Iran's pipeline plans.
| Additional Energy Resources Stories | |
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Feb. 9 (UPI) --
Honduras is inching back toward economic recovery and sees more international tourism as a way out of the crisis triggered by its June 2010 coup.
|
HILLSBORO, Ore., Feb. 9 (UPI) --
Solar panels generating a total of 1.3 megawatts of power are installed at a U.S. Navy facility and ready to begin their first full year of operation.
|
With rental vacancy rates at their lowest levels in 10 years, a review of TransUnion's proprietary rental screening database found that rental prices remained about the same between the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011....
|
Government officials are on the verge of an agreement worth as much as $26 billion with five major banks, capping a yearlong push to settle federal and state probes of alleged foreclosure abuses by lenders.
|
| Stories | Photos | People | Comments |
View Caption