‘Gas imported from Iran to generate 5000MW’
By Muhammad Ali Malik

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan will use gas imported from Iran to generate 5,000 mega watts of electricity, the Pakistani prime minister’s advisor on petroleum and natural resources said.
Asim Hussain said that natural gas imported from Iran will be exclusively used to generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity, ISNA wrote.
He said that Pakistan needs 8 to 10 billion cubic feet of gas while the supply is only four billion cubic feet. To a question, he said that Iranian gas is not expensive in comparison with natural gas, which is going to be even costlier than petrol due to high caloric value and environment-friendly nature.
“Gas is also a raw material for fertilizer, textile and other industries and it is 15 percent more efficient than the furnace oil used in power generation,” he noted. He said the cost of pipeline project has been reduced to $1.2 billion as 42 inch diameter pipeline will be locally made and the cost of steel is $700 million.
Asim added that those who were opposing Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project were enemies and do not want development in the country. “Pakistan can face a grave energy crisis if we are not able to materialize this pipeline project”, he warned.
While giving calculations about the savings on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, Asim said Pakistan would save about $1.2 billion at $60 a barrel of oil, and save $2 billion if oil price increased to $100 a barrel.
He said locally produced gas costs Rs364 or $4.5 per mmcf while Iranian gas will cost Rs643 per mmcf. He said Iran has completed laying 900 kilometers of pipeline and would lay another 100 kilometers to reach the supply point at the border to supply nearly 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day.
The Pakistani official concluded by saying that if India indicated willingness to join the project within the processing period, it will get gas from the pipeline, otherwise a separate 52 inch pipeline will have to be laid.