Tripartite talks on Iran gas in August

NEW DELHI: Trilateral talks between India, Pakistan and Iran are set to be taken up yet again on August, 3-4; to discuss the price at which gas is to be sourced from Iran. Talks had broken down last May when there were major differences between Iran and the consumer countries over the price of gas.

India and Pakistan have been demanding a more reasonable rate while Iran is trying to make the best of the over heated market conditions. “The last meeting of oil secretaries of the three countries in Islamabad on May 22-23 broke off after Iran sought a price linked to international crude oil for the natural gas it wants to sell to India and Pakistan through the over $7 bn Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline,” a government source said.

Tehran is seeking a price of $7.2 per million British thermal unit (mBtu), with a 3% annual escalation.