Monday, June 13 2005 16:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kuala Lumpur: A decision on the multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline between Iran and India, which will pass through Pakistan, will be made in two weeks, a senior Iranian Minister said in Kuala Lumpur today (Jun 13, 2005).

"We are in the pit field of decision-making," Iran's Senior Deputy Energy Minister Reza Amrollahi told reporters on the sidelines of the two-day Asia Oil and Gas conference.

He said an announcement will be made in two weeks.

The 2600 kms-long proposed pipeline will supply gas from Iran's South Pars offshore fields.

India and Pakistan last week agreed to sort out transit, legal, financial and structural issues by year-end for the $4.16 bn pipeline to take-off from early 2006.

New Delhi hopes to import 60 million standard cubic meters per day of gas through the pipeline, 760-km of which will pass through Pakistan, by the first half of 2010 and ramp up imports from Iran to 90-100 mmscmd by 2015.

Pakistan will also tap some 60 mmscmd of gas from the pipeline and also earn transit fee for allowing its territory to be used for passage of the pipeline.

Earlier, addressing the conference Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi asked Asian countries to engage in "energy diplomacy".

He cautioned that with Asia expected to account for most of the energy demand, the race to secure energy resources among national oil companies would become intense.

"Under these circumstances, it would seem that a viable strategic option for Asia lies in a political commitment to cooperate in energy diplomacy," he told the Conference.