IP gas pipeline: Iran threatens to slap penalties for delays
Under the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement the first flow of gas to Pakistan should have started by Dec 31, 2014
Under the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement the first flow of gas to Pakistan should have started by December 31, 2014. PHOTO: AFP
QUETTA:
Iran on Saturday dangled the threat of penalties against Pakistan if thet later falls behind schedule in fulfilling its obligations in a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline project that aims to export natural gas to Pakistan.
“Pakistan was bound under the contract to fulfil its commitment by starting the import of Iran’s gas supplies in December 2014,” Hamid Reza Araqi, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency FARS.
“[How things are going] it seems unlikely for Pakistan to take any (serious) measure before the end of 2015,” Araqi said addressing a press conference in Tehran on Saturday.
He categorically rejected the rumours that Iran has decided not to fine Islamabad for its long delay in completing the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. “The terms of the contract about the fines that Pakistan should pay in case it delays fulfilling its undertakings are still alive and enforceable,” he said in plain words.
Under the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement (GSPA) signed with Iran by the outgoing Pakistan Peoples Party government in 2009, the first flow of gas to Pakistan should have started by Dec 31, 2014.
In February 2014, Pakistan sent a team to Iran to seek extension in the implementation of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project.
Iran and Pakistan officially inaugurated the construction of the border part of the multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline project in March, 2013.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2015.
Iran on Saturday dangled the threat of penalties against Pakistan if thet later falls behind schedule in fulfilling its obligations in a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline project that aims to export natural gas to Pakistan.
“Pakistan was bound under the contract to fulfil its commitment by starting the import of Iran’s gas supplies in December 2014,” Hamid Reza Araqi, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency FARS.
“[How things are going] it seems unlikely for Pakistan to take any (serious) measure before the end of 2015,” Araqi said addressing a press conference in Tehran on Saturday.
He categorically rejected the rumours that Iran has decided not to fine Islamabad for its long delay in completing the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. “The terms of the contract about the fines that Pakistan should pay in case it delays fulfilling its undertakings are still alive and enforceable,” he said in plain words.
Under the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement (GSPA) signed with Iran by the outgoing Pakistan Peoples Party government in 2009, the first flow of gas to Pakistan should have started by Dec 31, 2014.
In February 2014, Pakistan sent a team to Iran to seek extension in the implementation of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project.
Iran and Pakistan officially inaugurated the construction of the border part of the multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline project in March, 2013.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2015.