Indo-Iran nat gas pipeline agreement by July

mumbai: a final agreement on the proposed indo-iran natural gas pipeline is expected by july after a meeting of officials from both the countries to be held in delhi that month. "this is a long-term agreement and many issues are under consideration regarding the proposed pipeline. a final agreement will be reached on the project up to next four months," iranian consul general mehdi honardoost said. he said iran was seeking india''s cooperation in energy issues related to liquified natural gas, crude oil exports and sharing of technical expertise in the upstream sector. national iranian oil company and gas authority of india have appointed a consultant for the pre-feasibility study for an onland and offshore pipeline. while iran has favoured natural gas export to india through an onland pipeline passing through pakistan, india has raised security and safety aspects of delivery at its borders if the pipeline comes via its hostile neighbour. in december last, the visiting iranian deputy minister for foreign affairs s mohammad hossein adeli had proposed that an international consortium comprising global multinationals like shell, british gas and petronas take over the pipeline project to facilitate speedy implementation and secured delivery of gas on indian soil. four major companies including bhp of australia, petronas of malaysia and french totalfinaelf have expressed interest in constructing the 2,670-km long pipeline.