Business

Pakistan, Iran to jointly develop gas pipline implementation plan

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

Pakistan renewed its commitment to project: minister.
Iran offers to export more electricity for Gwadar, Chaman.
Both countries decide to explore ways to implement project.

ISLAMABAD: In a positive development, Pakistan and Iran have decided to jointly develop a consensus implementation plan for the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline, The News reported Friday.

The decision came after a meeting between two sides in Tehran during which Islamabad had sought relaxation on the Feb-March 2024 deadline to avert the penalty of $18 billion for not laying down a pipeline in its territory.

Iran had asked Pakistan last year to construct a portion of the gas line project in its territory till February-March 2024 or pay a $18 billion penalty.

The negotiations regarding the plan would begin in the next two to three weeks.

Despite this, the Iranian deadline to move international arbitration by September 2024 would remain in the field allowing that much time to explore bilateral avenues.

Energy Minister Muhammad Ali told The News, “We have held constructive talks in Tehran and Pakistan has renewed its commitment to the project.

“We have convinced the neighbouring country of our deficient energy status for which we also have enhanced work on the TAPI gas line project. The Iranian side listened to us carefully and agreed to increase active engagements to enable the IP project.”

During the talks, the Iranian side also offered to export more electricity to Pakistan for Gwadar and Chaman and the former agreed to consider that. Pakistan is already importing 104MW of electricity from Iran.

Ali said in his view Pakistan needs more electricity from Iran for Gwadar, of course on a better negotiated tariff. Though China is setting up an imported coal-based 300MW power plant at Gwadar, it may not fulfil the future needs.

“Once the national grid gets installed at Gwadar, Pakistan can also use more Iranian electricity for its national use,” the minister said.

When the energy minister was asked about the gas project and the issue of $18 billion penalties, he said that both countries have decided to explore ways to implement the project.

The Inter-State Gas Systems of Pakistan and the National Iranian Gas Company signed a revised agreement in September 2019 for the pipeline.

This accord stipulated that Iran would not approach any international court for any delay till 2024 but would be free to do so afterwards. Pakistan could not build the pipeline primarily due to the risk of US sanctions that any project with Iran would invite.

During the talks, the Iranian side was of the view that there could be no US sanctions as it was already exporting gas to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, which have not been exposed to any sanctions. The same would hold good for Pakistan in that scenario.

Business

E&P Companies Will Invest $5 Billion in Pakistan’s Petroleum Industry

Published

6 hours ago

Farwa

Over the next three years, local and foreign companies involved in Pakistan’s oil and gas exploration and production sector have shown a strong desire to invest more than $5 billion in the nation’s energy sector.

Recent changes to the Petroleum Policy and the implementation of an exclusive tight gas policy, which provide better incentives and a more investor-friendly regulatory framework, are credited with the increase in investor confidence.

These strategic changes are expected to boost domestic energy production, open up new avenues for growth, and draw large amounts of both domestic and foreign investment.

Business

With inflation slowing, the SBP is anticipated to lower the policy rate for the eighth time in a row.

Published

7 hours ago

Farwa

Businesspeople anticipate another reduction in the policy rate when the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) releases the updated rate.

The interest rate for the upcoming two months will be announced by the central bank. It is still unclear if the rate will stay the same or be lowered to reflect stakeholder expectations.

According to experts, the policy rate will be lowered in order to further boost the nation’s economic sector.

Interest rates may be lowered for the seventh time in a row if the inflation rate declines significantly more than anticipated.

In its last six sessions, the MPC had cut the policy rate by 10 percent. In January 2025, it decreased the rate by one percent to 12pc.

12PC POLICY RATE

In January, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced cut in key policy rate by 100 basis points (bps) to 12 percent from 13pc in line with expectations of the business community.

The policy rate, which had been at 22 percent since June 2024, was slashed by 1,000 basis points to 12 percent.

The SBP governor said the decision was taken with careful consideration. “Although inflation is expected to decline next month (February), core inflation remains a pressing concern,” he stated.

Ahmed highlighted strong remittance inflows and robust export growth as key factors supporting the current account.