ISLAMABAD – Pakistan will be signing a MoU with Russian Federation toconduct a feasibility study for the construction of an offshore gaspipeline involving Iran, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said.
Muhammad Faisal while responding to a question posed by IRNA at his weeklynews briefing in Islamabad on Thursday said that the proposal forconstruction of undersea gas pipeline has been under consideration since2017.
“The proposal involves Pakistan, Iran, Russia and India,” he said.The spokesperson added that the ministries of energy of Pakistan andRussian Federation have finalized a MoU for conducting a feasibility studyfor implementation of the undersea gas pipeline project.
“Purpose of this MoU is to assist and provide support for the realizationof the proposal. Based on the results of this feasibility study the twosides will take a decision for the future of the project,” he said.
Muhammad Faisal said that Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline is a separateproject being dealt by Pakistani’s ministry for petroleum and naturalresources.
He said that Pakistan and Russia are strong partners in the field ofenergy. “The two countries have concluded various proposals in the energysector including construction of North-South gas pipeline, import of LNGfrom Russia, installation of air mix plant, establishing of 600 MW combinecycle power plant etc,” he said.In his opening remarks the spokesperson said Pakistan President MamnoonHussain will visit China on 09 June 2018 to attend Shanghai CooperationOrganization (SCO) summit in Qingdao, China.
“The President will also meet his Chinese counterpart, President XiJinping. The President will also have sideline meetings with the leadershipof SCO member countries,” he said.
Earlier reports surfaced in Pakistani media that Pakistan and Russia arepoised to sign a $10-billion offshore gas pipeline deal, a project plannedby the latter to capture the energy market of Pakistan.Final cost of the project will be assessed following a feasibility study tobe conducted by Russian energy giant Gazprom.