Talking to reporters after the four-day talks, Hojjatollah Ghanimifard added the three states agreed to prepare the documents of the gas contract within the next 12 days.

“On the first and second days of Tehran meeting, the three countries’ experts, legal, financial, and commercial advisors, and companies’ officials exchanged views on technical issues of the contract,” said the envoy, adding the top officials of trio discussed the project on the third and fourth days.

“As the peace pipeline project is a long-term 25-year contract, it opens a new chapter in the history of three states’ energy and gas ties and it demands the trio’s agreement,” said Ghanimifard, expressing hope the contents of the agreement would be provided within the next 12 days.

Some amendments to the contract were ready and the three parties were to receive the text and inform their officials of its content, he added.

The international affairs manager of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said, “In addition, another text that provides the list of contracting companies in the finalized contract will be prepared in 12 days.

“The text also indicates whether the ministers or their deputies will sign the contract.”

Ghanimifard said the sides agreed to settle few unsettled issues of the contract within the deadline, June 30.

Dubbed peace pipeline, Iran-Pakistan-India gas line is a proposed 2,775 km pipeline project to deliver natural gas from IranPakistanIndia. The project is expected to take three to five years to complete and will cost $7 billion. and to

Ghanimifard assured that IPI gas contract would be finalized by the end of June.

He told PIN the views of Pakistan and India on price were getting close.

“At this stage, we are negotiating on the trilateral contract and gas will be exported to India when the two states reach an agreement,” the NIOC’s international affairs manager added.

“The deadline for finalization of the contract is June 30,” reiterated the chief negotiator, expressing hope all problems would be settled by the date.

Talking about Turkmenistan’s exporting gas to Pakistan and IndiaIran. , Ghanimifard said competition in gas market was completely natural, however, adding if conditions were based on logical and international norms, the contracting parties would prefer 

“The initial demand of Pakistan and India for Iran’s gas amounted to 150 million cubic meters per day, but we announced that Iran had now the capacity to supply 60 million cubic meters of commodity daily and we could increase its volume in next phases,” said the official, concluding that it was natural that Pakistan was seeking a contract with Turkmenistan as Iran was not able at present to meet Pakistan’s need fully.