ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Pakistan seems likely to back out of deals with Iran and India over a $7.4 billion gas pipeline from the Iranian South Pars field, sources said Thursday.
Pakistani officials are said to be moving away from Iran on deals for the proposed 1,724-mile Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline on high pricing demands from the Iranian side, the Economic Times of India said, citing various Pakistani news sources.
Asim Hussain, the top energy adviser to Pakistan, noted talks collapsed in early January on Iranian provisions for the project. Iran wants a series of conditions on gas deals, including clauses for Iranian control over distribution and a single, static price mechanism.
Pakistan, meanwhile, wants a price mechanism that is competitive with alternative fuel sources and had offered to take control of the New Delhi share in the pipeline.
Hussain scheduled a steering committee meeting Thursday, where he is expected to persuade lawmakers to abandon the project.
Negotiations over IPI, envisioned in 1989, limped along for years as neither side has been able to make progress on gas custody, security and pricing.
Pakistan and India face a looming energy crisis, making IPI talks vital to the region.
