Iran seeks higher price in gas pipeline deal

 

NEW DELHI: The five million tonne LNG import deal to India from Iran has hit a rough patch with Iran on Tuesday seeking a higher price than agreed.
  
At a meeting here between top Iranian officials and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, Iran sought six dollars, that is two dollars more than the price earlier agreed between the two countries in Teheran in June, 2005.
  
Iran has conveyed that it's highest political authority, the Supreme Council will have to give the final verdict on LNG, which is in short supply for India.

 

Deora said the LNG deal was discussed at the meeting here and said the deal is not legally binding till the Supreme Council ratified it.
  
Led by Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian the Iranian team visited Pakistan before arriving here on Monday and the two countries had a joint working group meeting in Islamabad.

 

In Islamabad, Nejad-Hosseinian urged India and Pakistan to push forth the pipeline project.

Iran said India had not been "ousted" from the tri-nation pipeline project, even as it set an August deadline for New Delhi to sign an agreement on the project.

 

"I want to clarify that contrary to reports, India has not been edged out of the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline. We continue to engage in discussions leading to tri-nation ministerial meeting next month," Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian told reporters after meeting Deora in New Delhi.