Indo-Iran oil, gas deals stuck in pipeline again

[DuctapeFatwa]

Cooperation between India and Iran in the oil and gas sector has taken a beating with their second Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting, slated for February 17-18, put off for the second time because of slow progress.

The meeting was first scheduled for December 13-14 but that time, New Delhi decided that “it would be premature to have the second JWG meeting in December 2003 as proposed by the Iranians”, says a government document. This time round, the advice came from Indian ambassador in Teheran that nothing much would be gained by attending it. The JWG first met in Delhi/Tehran in May where it decided that Iran would offer a discovered oilfield to India in exchange for New Delhi buying LNG from Iran.

However, the oilfields offered by Iran were found to be cost intensive. Subsequently, India was offered 40 percent in South Azadegan but it was asked to bid a price for the share along with other oil majors.

The progress on a deepwater natural gas pipeline between Iran-India, crossing through or outside Pakistan’s boundaries, is also tardy. Teheran is yet to resolve payment issues with route surveyor Gardline Surveys of UK after which the latter will transfer a large chunk of its study to engineering consultant Snamprogetti-Saipem for getting the last-mile sea-bed study conducted by another firm.

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=41498