IPI Pipeline Discussion Thread

[LETHALFORCE]

India has quit Iran gas pipeline deal

India has quit Iran gas pipeline deal: Report - International Business - Business - NEWS - The Times of India


India has quit Iran gas pipeline deal: Report
IANS 7 September 2009, 07:08am IST

TEHRAN: India has exited from a gas pipeline deal it earlier planned with Iran and Pakistan, Mehr news agency reported citing a Pakistani diplomat.

"India definitely quitted the IPI (India-Pakistan-Iran) gas pipeline deal," the report said citing Pakistani ambassador to Iran, Muhammad Bux Abbasi, as saying here on Sunday.

Abbasi added that Pakistan plans to increase its crude oil import from Iran. Iranian officials, however, said India has not yet officially declared its intention.

In May this year, Tehran and Islamabad signed a $7.5-billion deal to supply gas from Iran to Pakistan.

As per the deal, Iran would initially supply 30 million cubic meters of gas per day to Pakistan which would be later increased to 60 million cubic meters per day.

Iran, Pakistan and India had conceptualised the project in the 1990s to help boost peace and security in the region, besides mitigating the power crisis.

India stopped negotiations on the project due to tension with Pakistan, although Iran repeatedly encouraged New Delhi to rejoin the process, according to the report.

The pipeline would run 2,775 km when linked with the three countries.

The project would have greatly benefited India, which do not have sufficient natural gas to meet its rapidly increasing domestic demand.

Pakistan has been facing electricity shortfall of more than 3,000 megawatts and plans to generate 4,600 megawatts from Iranian gas. Islamabad has been under pressure from Washington to abandon the deal.

 

[bhramos]

so now the deal is going to china,
IPC pipeline deal.
good news to chinese.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

it's not good news when USA blocks the deal by putting pressure on pakistan ,also it was too risky an investment to make in an unstable area, if chinese are willing to gamble they can persude USA and spend 10 billion, india has 2 recent huge deals with australia and qatar.

AFP: Australia approves huge gas deal with China, India

Steel Guru : Petronet LNG to import natural gas from Qatar

 

[thakur_ritesh]

if true then good riddance, the cost factor is way too huge to make this project viable. why would indians be keen on gas that costs some 80% more than what is available from other sources and for which we do long term contracts. just to oblige someone we jump into a pothole makes no sense, i was initially keen on the project but not any more.

as far as iran, its interests and our interests in that country are concerned, india has taken good care of that by announcing 2 separate investments in that country both investments coming from state owned companies and the invested amount would be in the region of anywhere between 10 to 15b usd over the next few years, and with a present us government not hostile to the iranina regime any more there are very bright chances that the indian private sector will be allowed in a big way and we know when it comes to our private sector no amount is a big amount, imagine they have already announced 5b usd for ethiopia, and 10b usd for nigeria to be invested over the next 2-3 years and any day iran is a much more important destination, with some handsome roi.

 

[bhramos]

when costs 80% means to build a pipeline, means its a long term investiment, but keeping pak in view its a bad one,so why are we leaving other ways via ships and tankers anyway we had built a port in iran by getting this deal means we can put some of ships their in port for protection of our vessels, in case of war we can attack from both fronts at a time.

 

[ppgj]

so now the deal is going to china,
IPC pipeline deal.
good news to chinese.

it was a non starter from the beginning considering the security situation.india could not have mortgaged its supplies to pakistan.even china will think twice for the same reasons 'cos their engineers and workers have been kidnapped in the past.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

when costs 80% means to build a pipeline, means its a long term investiment, but keeping pak in view its a bad one,so why are we leaving other ways via ships and tankers anyway we had built a port in iran by getting this deal means we can put some of ships their in port for protection of our vessels, in case of war we can attack from both fronts at a time.

we can work on these deals in the future with iran, there is no desperation on our part ,many other nations can supply natural gas at better prices.

 

[RPK]

China interested in IPI, India can rejoin: Iranian envoy

New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) With India going slow on the tri-nation gas pipeline, Iranian ambassador to India Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh Tuesday said China is interested in the proposed multi-billion project but left the door open for New Delhi to rejoin the peace pipeline.
The Iranian envoy, however, remained quiet on whether Iran is holding talks with China over the tri-nation pipeline involving Iran, India and Pakistan.

The envoy invited India to rejoin the pipeline project but made it clear that the offer was not for the “unlimited period”.

“Work on the project is progressing very fast and one should understand the urgency to join the pipeline,” the envoy told reporters here when asked whether Iran is setting any time frame for India to rejoin the project.

India has not officially quit the project, but has serious reservations about its viability due to differences over the pricing of the Iranian gas and security of the pipeline that will pass though violence-prone areas of Pakistan.

Early this month, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora denied reports that India has quit plans to build the gas pipeline with Iran and Pakistan. “With Iran the question is still open, but because of the political situation in Pakistan, just now there is a little bit of a stop on that,” he had said.

The project, termed as the peace pipeline due to its potential to bring together the three countries and spread prosperity in the region, was signed by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the tripartite summit on Afghanistan security in Tehran in May.

 

[natarajan]

Is iran blackmailing us using the word chinese or really chinese were interested in this?

 

[ajay_ijn]

yeah they are so openly hinting about it. And India didn't listen to them before and will not now. if Iran is so adamant about pricing and conditions in the deal then why should India come down. Just because India & China are hungry for energy, Iran types should not be able to use the competition as a way of attracting greater prices.

 

[RPK]

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Iran warns India on gas pipeline

Iran's ambassador in India says Delhi must decide soon on a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline deal or else they will talk to other countries.

Iran's ambassador in India Seyed Mehdi Nabizedeh said they were willing to offer India a limited time.

The pipeline will transport gas from Iran to India through Pakistan, and is seen as crucial to Indian energy needs.

Iran and Pakistan signed the deal in May this year. Reports say China is also interested in being a part of it.

Analysts say the pipeline could contribute to regional security as Iran, Pakistan and India would depend on each other more.

The deal has been stalled by disputes over transit fees and security issues.

'Not unlimited'

"We went ahead with Pakistan and signed the agreement. But India can still be part of it. But I have told this before also that this time limit is not unlimited," news agency Reuters quoted Mr Nabizedeh as saying.

The Iranian ambassador also confirmed that China was interested in the agreement.

"Yes it is true [that China has shown interest in the deal]. We hope that this tripartite agreement is settled soon so that we do not have to talk with anyone else," he said.

The 2,600-km (1,620-mile) pipeline would initially transport 60 million cubic metres of gas (2.2bn cubic feet) a day.

The Indian government has said the project is feasible, but needs to be financially viable with assured supplies.

India has boycotted trilateral meetings since mid-2007, saying it wants to resolve the issues of transit fees and transportation tariffs with its long-standing regional rival Pakistan first.

Last year, India's Petroleum Minister Murli Deora had said they were very close to signing the deal.

 

[Rage]

Whoa! I thought this deal was dead!

Source: PressTV. So take it with a fu&kton of salt.


IPI gas talks to resume later this month

Print Date : Monday,
November 9, 2009


Talks on the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline are likely to resume on the 16th of November, India’s petroleum minister has said.

The Indian Minister believes that not reaching agreement on the delivery point of the gas transferred from Iran is the main reason behind a delay for a final agreement, the Asian Age reported on Saturday.

“They (Iranians) have said that the delivery point will be the Iranian border, we don’t agree with it,” Indian Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told the paper.

India wants the delivery point to be on the Pakistan-India border.

Deora said that he had even discussed the issue with the top officials of Pakistan, adding that other issues like transit fees and the price of gas are less important.

“These issues can be resolved easily but the main issue is delivery the point,” said the minister.

According to the newspaper, Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, will be in India on 16 and the 17 of November, with the IPI being on the top of his agenda.

The 2,775 km Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline, nicknamed Peace Pipeline, was scheduled to take natural gas from Iran to India. However, due to rising tensions between India and Pakistan, New Delhi stepped back from the later stages of negotiations, although it has never formally withdrawn from the scheme.

The IPI pipeline was proposed in 1995, and, after almost 13 years of negotiations, India decided to step back last year.

Indian officials have many times cited security issues and the viability of the pipeline that would pass through the territory of rival Pakistan, where a near-civil war is raging between government forces and pro-Taliban militants.

Previously, Iran’s Ambassador to India, Seyyed Mehdi Nabizadeh called on India to rejoin the project, saying that the offer would not remain open for an “unlimited period.”

(Source: Press TV)


tehran times : IPI gas talks to resume later this month

 

[Rage]

Not really. I remember reading a long time ago (before this "deterioration") about how government just wasn't comfortable with pipeline going through Pakistan for starters. That was the second big reason, or maybe the biggest reason over Iran rasing prices randomly forgetting all the "promises" they made when this drama was initiated.

Bottomline, government didn't follow through for more reasons than just money in the end for a long time. That's why this deal was going nowhere for so long.. as far as India is concerned (and it shouldn't).

Also, after nuclear deal it makes more sense spending resources getting something productive out of it for a change rather than more publicity for Congress.

If Murli Manohar Deora is to be believed, it seems to be an issue of delivery point now rather than transit fees or security: the Indians want the delivery point to be somewhere along the Pak-India border, while the Iranians want it to be somewhere along the Iranian-Pak border. Apparently, Manmohan Singh may visit Iran in February next year if the buzz on the diplomatic scuttlebutt would have us believe. In light of the fact that this is the first Prime Ministerial visit to Iran in eight years, since Atal Behari Vajpayee first signed that famous Tehran Declaration eight years ago, it may be significant. But I'm not keepin' my fingers crossed for any major breakthrough.

 

[bhramos]

India, Iran to discuss Pak-based terror, gas pipeline


India, Iran to discuss Pak-based terror, gas pipeline

NEW DELHI: India and Iran are expected to discuss the common threat of terrorism emanating from Pakistan and the proposed trilateral gas pipeline project when foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki undertakes a two-day visit here from Monday.

Marking the first high-level contact since re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in July, Mottaki's visit will also provide an opportunity for the two countries to discuss various other collaborative projects like development of an integrated port-road-rail infrastructure to provide transit access to India from Chabahar to central Asia.

During the talks between external affairs minister S M Krishna and Mottaki, the Indian side is expected to get an update on Iran's talks on its controversial nuclear programme with European interlocutors.

Mottaki, who is undertaking his second visit here since 2006, will also call on Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Terrorism from Pakistan is expected to be discussed when the two sides review the situation in the region.

Both India and Iran are victims of terrorism emanating from Pakistan which was highlighted by the bomb attack in Sistan province last month, official sources pointed out today while explaining the need to discuss the common concern.

India favours coordination of efforts with Iran against terrorism and will discuss what can be done in this regard, they said.

India, Iran to discuss Pak-based terror, gas pipeline - India - The Times of India

Will the IPI Gas pipeline begin or continue?

 

[Quickgun Murugan]

IPI gas pipeline: Blowing hot and cold

domain-b.com : IPI gas pipeline: Blowing hot and cold

One thing you may expect of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project – India will neither yes or no, and neither will Iran accept the fact that India is finally out of the project, says Rajiv Singh.

New Delhi: One thing you may expect of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project – India will neither yes or no, and neither will Iran accept the fact that India is finally out of the project. Strategic compulsions for both to maintain a state of limbo on this issue are just too many. Now, once again, India has expressed its willingness to be part of the project even as Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, readies himself for a visit to New Delhi in the coming week.

''We are interested and it is very much on the agenda,'' Indian government sources are quoted as saying in reference to the project.

Negotiations on the pipeline have for long been stuck over the issue of pricing and security. ''There are issues that need to be resolved,'' sources said, suggesting that this was a project that required patience.

The Iran–Pakistan–India gas pipeline, also known as the IPI pipeline or the Peace pipeline, is a proposed 2,775-kilometre (1,724 mile) pipeline to deliver natural gas from Iran to Pakistan and India.

Given the failure of India and Iran to settle matters to their satisfaction and India's indeterminate stance on its participation in the project, Iran floated the China bogey in April 2008, saying Mainland China had expressed an interest to participate. This was immediately picked up by Pakistan, which suggested that this would be a very good idea as it would provide a stable partner to the project and also solve the problem of continued Indian dithering.

In September 2009, Iran's Mehr news agency quoted a Pakistani diplomat as saying "India has definitely quit the IPI gas pipeline deal, in favour of Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement for energy security. Iranian officials clarified that India was yet to make an official declaration.

The issue, government sources said, is very likely to figure in the bilateral parley between Indian external affairs minister SM Krishna and Mottaki. They also said that both sides will hold detailed discussions on the subject at the meeting of the joint working group on energy which is expected to be held soon.

In fact, Mottaki's delegation will also contain senior representatives from the petroleum sector.

The pipe dream
The proposed pipeline will start from Asalouyeh in Iran and stretch over 1100 kilometres through that country. The pipeline will be supplied from the Iranian South Pars field.

The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 22 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per annum, which is expected to be raised later to 55 bcm.

The construction of the pipeline is expected to cost $7.5 billion.

In negotiations so far, India has agreed to give Pakistan a transit fee of $200 million per year, for allowing passage of the pipeline through that country.

In Pakistan, the pipeline will pass through the provinces of Baluchistan and Sind.

One of the many reasons for continued Indian dithering on the matter has been the volatile security situation in the two Pakistani provinces the pipeline is supposed to pass through – in particular Balochistan.

Not only is this province and it surrounding areas the crucible in which much of the current war on terror is focussed, but the Sunni dominated province has been feeding secessionist sentiments and militants in adjoining Iranian province of Sistan-Balochistan.

Iran is a Shia dominant country.

Balochi separatists have been crossing the border and clashing repeatedly with Iranian paramilitaries in an attempt to unite the Iranian part of Balochistan with its Pakistani counterpart. In a recent bomb explosion a militant Balochi organisation, Jundollah, killed several prominent members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran openly accused Pakistan of harbouring the terrorists linked to this organisation and acting in cahoots with British and US intelligence organisations to further their activities. These charges were hotly denied by the Pakistanis, who subsequently picked up some members, purportedly belonging to the Jundollah, as a token gesture.

The Iranian interior minister visited Pakistan soon after the attack asking it hand over Abdul Malik Rigi, the leader of the Jundollah group, which he said Pakistan was sheltering on its territory.

In a constant accusatory mode with respect to involvement of other countries in Balochistan, that is India, Pakistan is still trying to get over the embarrassment of having to explain to Iran the lack of its own involvement with terror outfits operating from its side of the Balochi border.

The Pakistan Taliban, which operate in these areas with impunity, have openly stated time and again that they will target India once they are through dealing with the Islamabad establishment and the United States. The IPI gas pipeline will become the most obvious target for such forces once the current pressure on them begins to ease.

Blowing hot and cold
India and Iran, too, are not sitting on the same side of the fence, with Iran openly accusing India of siding with the United States and the West in its ongoing tussle with them over its nuclear programme.

India, in turn, has no reason to be particularly pleased with continued Iranian meddling in matters concerning Kashmir at forums such as the Organisation of Islamic Countries.

In turn, Iran recognises that rubbing India, an emerging power on the world stage, on the wrong side is suicidal, given the constant threat of 'regime change' it faces from implacable foes, such as Israel.

India is also one of the biggest markets for its petroleum and gas products.

Against India, China may always be available as a game spoiler, but the logistic challenges of supplying China with gas and petroleum are immense as compared to India, a market that lies in its immediate neighbourhood.

Given all these variables, it may be with good reason that India continues to blow hot and cold on the matter. Without any resolution in sight for myriad security and geo-political issues, India may like to play the patience game even as it sends out assurances that it will join the pipeline once meaningful solutions to current problems are evident.

Till such time, the IPI gas pipeline - for India, and possibly Iran - will remain just a pipe dream.

 

[icecoolben]

There kinds of difficult situations give rise to innovations. The undersea pipeline is really a novel idea and would be the most beneficial in its class if implemented. But, strong political leadership is required on behalf of india to go through the deal. It has to withstand constant Us pressure to isolate iran and disengage economically with the country. It should make pak prominence in the project as weak as possible. This pipe-line would become costlier to build in future with china and europe competing in the fray.

 

[icecoolben]

A foreign underwater pipeline in the offing, will India learn!

Here's a successful gas pipe-line concluded by putin between Russia and France
Victory for Putin as France signs gas pipeline deal
Just like the above deal, we too can prefer the under-sea route for IPI pipeline, just let the russian monopoly gasprom be the lead contractor. They had already envinced interest in building the pipeline and maintaining it. If Iran has a problem with huge foreigin investment. Then let them have the majority 40% stake and let gasprom, ongc share the remaining equally.
I'm in favour of the IPI pipeline all the way. Growing needs will put india on par with US's demand in the energy sector and we need all the sources v need to quench it. Oil tankers can be spared to operate overseas while integrating suppliers countries of oil and gas close to india via pipeline would be economical and efficient in the long run. As the largest market of their gas it would give us political leverage as well. But, for which v need to build a strategic reserve that would last for 3 years than 3 months now. We need gas from myanmar, bangladesh from the eastern pipeline and the persian gulf gas from the western pipelines both IPI and TAPI. But the pakistan factor is still a troubling one. Hope the country resolves its militancy or dissolves completely sooner than later.

 

[atleast_a_bronze]

Pakistan not to give guarantee for Iranian gas flows to India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided not to give any guarantee for gas flows to India through the multi-billion-dollar Iran gas pipeline, it is learnt.

Informed sources told Dawn on Tuesday that Pakistan and Iran had resolved almost all other issues pertaining to the pipeline project, including pricing, project details and quantity of gas to be purchased.

They said that work on the project could be undertaken immediately if Iran did not press Pakistan too much on the guarantee that it had sought to ensure unhindered gas supplies to India through the pipeline.

The sources said Tehran had been told that a friendly project between two neighbourly Muslim countries should not become victim to the interests of a third country and, hence, Iran should not ask Pakistan to guarantee uninterrupted supplies to India given the history of relations between Pakistan and India.

The sources said Iran wanted Pakistan to agree to performance guarantee for gas deliveries if India decided to become part of the tri-nation project. This would require Pakistan to pay penalties to India for gas disruption even in case of sabotage activities or war between the two countries.

The sources said Pakistan was ready to put in place all security measures required to protect the pipeline in the Pakistani territory, but it could not pay the price of gas disruption when its own security was threatened by India itself or any sabotage activity. Pakistan’s defence authorities had also objected to providing iron-clad sovereign guarantees to India for gas supplies through the pipeline crossing Pakistan, the sources added.

India has so far avoided becoming part of the pipeline project although it has been in discussions with Tehran for joining the project and had participated in some trilateral meetings.

The sources said Islamabad required gas supplies from Iran to meet its growing energy needs but it could not compromise its long-term national interests and more so when India and Pakistan could not make any progress to resolve their longstanding issues.

Iran and Pakistan signed gas sales and purchase agreement (GSPA) in June last year under which Islamabad would purchase at least 750 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFD) from Tehran’s Southern Pars gas field. The gas supplies could be increased to one BCFD at the time of project implementation, the sources said.

 

[jakojako777]

The only option that makes sense for IPI gas pipeline is "new route" (but even that is not safe concerning USA secret plans with Independent Baluchistan and all regional conflicts that can be produced by that.)
"New route" pipeline should start deeper in Iranian mainland not on the border.

 

[atleast_a_bronze]

The only option that makes sense for IPI gas pipeline is "new route" (but even that is not safe concerning USA secret plans with Independent Baluchistan and all regional conflicts that can be produced by that.)
"New route" pipeline should start deeper in Iranian mainland not on the border.

The only feasible route is through the land over Pakistan.
The other route is through sea, which makes the project economically not viable.