Iran, Pak finalise gas exports contract

Iran and Pakistan have finalised a contract for a multi-billion-dollar gas export deal scheduled to be signed within a month without the third partner, India, which is yet to settle transit fee issues with Islamabad.

"The content of the Peace Pipeline contract has been finalised and all the points prepared by the two sides' legal experts have been re-read and agreed by the two sides," Iran's deputy minister in charge of the project, Hojatollah Ganimifard, was quoted as saying by the Iranian oil ministry's news service Shana on Saturday.

"The remaining points which are technical issues... must be studied within a month to make the contract ready for the simultaneous signing by the heads of the two countries," Ghanimifard said.

Tehran and Islamabad have neared a conclusion to the contract in the absence of India, a potential party to the deal.

Talks on the $7.4-billion project to supply gas to India through a 2,600-km pipeline began in 1994 but were stalled by tensions between India and Pakistan.

Talks resumed early in 2004 along with peace moves between India and Pakistan but dragged on because of New Delhi's opposition to periodic price reviews.

An early October agreement between Iran and Pakistan marked a breakthrough in the long-lasting talks when they agreed to a periodic revision of gas prices every three years instead of a long-term fixed price.

Iran has said it is determined to push ahead with the plan to pipe gas to India via Pakistan but that a major sticking point has been over how much New Delhi should pay Pakistan in transit fees.