New Delhi weighs role in IPI

NEW DELHI, July 10 (UPI) -- New Delhi sees the need to reconsider its position on the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline on concerns over pricing arrangements and domestic gas reserves.

The Indian Petroleum Ministry announced it would seek a review of its 2005 agreement on the project, saying domestic gas from the Krishna-Godavari field, pipeline security and gas-pricing mechanisms were a factor in the decision, The Indian Express newspaper reports

"There is a need to develop a common understanding of the project and to evolve (an) agreement on the path ahead amongst the stakeholders," the ministry announced.

The ministry statement added that production from the Krishna-Godavari field "would be able to cater to the existing shortfall of natural gas across all sectors." It also said the price for gas from IPI should be comparable to other domestic sources.

The Pakistan Interstate Gas Co. and the Iranian National Oil Co. signed IPI agreements in June to bring more than 750 million cubic feet of gas per day from Iran to Pakistan for the generation of some 5,000 megawatts of energy.

Western countries, however, are pressuring Islamabad to scrap the pipeline project.

IPI would bring gas from the South Pars field in Iran, one of the largest gas fields in the world, to markets in Pakistan and India.