Abu Dhabi: The ambitious India, Iran and Pakistan gas pipeline may not materialise due to differences between India and Pakistan, former Indian Ambassador to the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia said at Gulf Intelligence Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
“We made tremendous progress. The problem was the state of our relations with Pakistan. The problem is not with Iran. We reached up to the price stage. But then the problems began due to the collapse of Musharraf regime. I do not believe the pipeline will happen,” said Talmiz Ahmad.
He said India does not have potential oil reserves and 80 per cent of import is from the Gulf region. “The import dependency will be 90 per cent in the medium term to long term. There might be a shift towards renewables and nuclear but it is uncertain. It will be a fossil fuel based economy.”
“We’ve had discoveries of gas in Krishna and Godavari basin but it is much lower.”
India is now negotiating with Iran to build $4.5 billion under sea gas pipeline bypassing Pakistan, according to media reports.
The planned pipeline from the Iranian coast via the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean to Gujarat is proposed to carry 31.5 million standard cubic metres gas per day and will be built in two years.
Meanwhile, a top energy official from Pakistan said they are building their own pipeline from Gwadar to mid-country for LNG supply, which will have additional capacity for any import of gas coming from Iran.
“Once we get the right signals from the international community and from the government to go ahead, we are all set to go and build the interconnectivity pipeline with Iran,” said Zahid Muzaffar, Chairman of Oil & Gas Development Co Ltd (OGDCL), Pakistan’s national oil and gas company.