In a statement Nouraiz said, “The government is working on three major projects to meet the increasing demand of gas in future. These include Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline, Qatar-Pakistan and Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project [and] the government [will] decide in December this year which pipeline is suitable and the priority chart [will] be presented in the Federal Cabinet for approval.”
“On [the] Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan gas pipeline project, [the] next meeting of Ministerial Steering Committee of the US$3.2 billion project is likely to be held in a few weeks [to decide on it],” he added.
The Minister also declared the feasibility study on the US$3 billion Pakistan-Qatar pipeline has been completed at a cost of US$30 million.
According to Nouraiz, “A MOU with the government of Pakistan has been signed for import of up to 1.6 billion cubic feet of gas per day from Qatar starting from year 2010. Initially, the project is to supply 1.6 billion cubic feet of gas per day and is ultimately raised up to 3.5 billion cubic feet per day.”
“The capital cost of the project is estimated to US $ 1.8 billion [and], as per discussion going on with the sponsors, Pakistan [is] not required to make any investment at the initial stage [but we have] to ensure provision of infrastructure for distribution of gas and sustainable demand for gas consumption,” added the Minister.
