A top Iranian oil minister put a May 26 deadline for finalizing agreements on the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.

The 1,724-mile IPI gas pipeline is a proposed venture to transport gas from Iran to Pakistan and India.

The pipeline, once completed, will have the capacity to deliver nearly 2.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas from the South Pars field in Iran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in April visited top officials in Pakistan and India to discuss the project, Hossein Noqrekar-Shirazi, Iran's deputy oil minister for international affairs, told the Mehr News Agency Sunday.

Iranian and Pakistani officials said the deal may be delayed, however, because of the resignation of Khawaj Asif, the Pakistani petroleum minister.

Noqrekar-Shirazi said several companies interested in the pipeline commenced feasibility studies on the project.

Pakistani officials added that a consortium of investors, including the Asian Development Bank, the Pakistani Interstate Gas Co. Ltd. and Gas Authority of India Ltd. may consider joint involvement in the project, The Daily Times of Pakistan said.

GAIL during the April meetings expressed to officials explicit interest in construction of the pipeline.

Talks would proceed in a trilateral fashion, and Russia and China are not part of the deal "at this time," Noqrekar-Shirazi said.

Putin bypasses Belarus on BPS-2

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the Baltic Pipeline System 2 will bypass Belarus on its way to terminals in Europe.

BPS-2 expands the Baltic Pipeline System that transports oil from Western Siberia to the Primorsk terminal in the Gulf of Finland. BPS is operated by the Russian-owned oil pipeline company Transneft.

Putin said any new pipeline projects should diversify delivery routes to avoid politically delicate regions as Russia struggles to deliver its gas reserves to Western markets, the European weekly New Europe said Monday.

"It will serve to enhance the energy security of our country and of our partners in Europe, and in general will make possible an increase in Russia's economic potential," Putin said.

Belarus in January 2007 refused Russian oil transports through the country unless Moscow paid a transit duty.

Putin urged foreign partners to invest in the BPS-2 project to utilize it as a transit route.

Transneft estimated the BPS-2 phase would cost $3.3 billion. Putin said the company made its final decision based on environmental factors.

Swiss EGL reaches gas deal with Iran

The Swiss energy group EGL agreed to a long-term pact with the National Iranian Gas Export Co. to receive 194 billion cubic feet of gas from Iranian fields.

National Iranian Gas Export Co. Director Nasrallah Seifi said the arrangement could utilize pipelines in Albania, Greece, Italy and Turkey. EGL would amend the Trans Adriatic Pipeline from southern Greece to southern Italy while Iran made production arrangements to increase its gas output, The Media Line said Sunday.

The $62.3 billion, 25-year agreement commences at the beginning of 2009. It requires EGL to cover half of the transportation costs from the TAP.

"Natural gas from Iran is necessary for the opening of a fourth gas transportation corridor to Europe," EGL's Joachim Conrad said.

Conrad concurred with his Iranian counterpart Seifi, adding the Adriatic corridor would diversify gas supplies to Europe as well as provide long-term resources to Italy and Switzerland.

Dr. Manouchehr Takin, a senior analyst with the Center for Global Energy Studies, told The Media Line the Swiss-Iranian deal comes amid U.S. pressure on European countries to avoid investing in Iranian natural resources.

"Since the late 1990s the United States has been putting pressure on oil and gas companies not to invest in Iran," Takin said.

Kenya to extend oil pipeline to Burundi

Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetang'ula said Thursday his country is conducting a feasibility study to consider extending its oil pipelines to Burundi.

Wetang'ula's statements came during a meeting on regional economic integration Wednesday with Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza, the Kenya Broadcasting Corp. said.

The pipeline would extend to the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, from Rwanda in order to ease the ongoing fuel crisis facing the landlocked country.

The Kenyan minister also signed a general agreement of cooperation with Burundian Foreign Minister Antoinette Batumubwira.

TransCanada tar sands pipeline approved

A North Dakota judge Friday refused a request by landowners to delay approval of the Keystone crude oil pipeline proposed by the North American energy firm TransCanada.

A petition filed by six landowners and the Dakota Resource Council asked the court to delay the project while they fought appeals over the legal standing of the construction permit.

The Pennsylvanian Henkel & McCoy Inc. and Wisconsin's Michels Corp. will work south from the Canadian border to construct the 30-inch-diameter line 219 miles from North Dakota to Illinois. The line will carry tar sands oil from Alberta, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead newspaper said.

TransCanada spokesman Jeff Rauh told the newspaper that workers will begin clearing forested areas for construction this week, but said actual construction will not start until sometime in June.

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