ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Russia are likely to sign a commercial agreementwithin 30 days for the construction of the 1,100-kilometre North-South GasPipeline (NSGP).
The government has planned on taking action regarding the NSGP project toensure transport of 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (BCFD) of RegasifiedLiquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) from Karachi to Lahore.
Sources said that the Petroleum Division has decided to finalise the NSGPproject with Russia and work on the project will commence in six months.They also said that the government is also finalising a commercialagreement with Russia within 30 days, Pakistan Today has reported.
They said that the Petroleum Division created a joint venture with Russiawherein it retains 51-80 per cent equity. It will fund a large portion ofthe debt from the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) funds, andstart land acquisition right away. A decisive meeting between Pakistan andofficials from Russia is likely to be held during September to decide thefate of NSGP project, they added.
Sources said that following a decision of the Supreme Court (SC) regardingthe Gas Infrastructure Development Surcharge (GIDS), the Petroleum Divisionhas been considering various options to ensure the construction of NSGP asthe GIDC amount can only be spent in gas infrastructure projects. If thegovernment fails to initiate any gas infrastructure project during the nextsix months, then the GIDS Act will be invalidated as per the apex court’sorder on GIDC, they added.
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It has been learnt that the Petroleum Division has sought advice from theLaw Division regarding the GIDC, including time constraints, expandability,and consumer billing and refund policies.
An agreement between Pakistan and Russia was previously signed on October16, 2015, for the development of the NSGP having a transmission capacity of1.2 BCFD from Karachi to Lahore.
According to the document, Pakistan and Russia had entered intogovernment-to-government (G2G) agreement for the development of the NSGPproject. The proposed pipeline will be laid with a 42-inch diameter andwill have the capacity to transport 1.2 BFCD of RLNG.
