Posted on 06/07/2007 12:59:23 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
TEHRAN: Iran, India and Pakistan are making progress in talks on a planned $7 billion gas pipeline and the United States will not derail the project, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday.
"Fortunately the negotiations are making progress ... Principles have been agreed and we hope that in the current year we will be able to finalise the deal," Ahmadinejad said.
Iranian officials have previously said they hoped to sign a final deal in Islamabad on June 30.
"They (Americans) are after interfering in all the world's affairs and they consider themselves the owner of the world. But they will not have an impact on this issue," he said.
An Iranian energy official said this month during the latest round of talks that in the first stage of the planned contract 60 million cubic metres of gas per day would be exported to Pakistan and India.
If a second stage of exporting 150m cubic metres of gas is reached another pipeline will be needed, he said.
Iran sits atop the world's second largest gas reserves after Russia. But sanctions, politics and construction delays have slowed its gas development and analysts say it is unlikely to become a major exporter for a decade.
Apart from the pipeline, New Delhi is also negotiating with Iran to secure a deal that would see Tehran supply 5m tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year over a 25-year-period from 2009.
Imanutjob is really a nut job. An oil pipeline would be a good thing for that area. Besides, India could always export oil to the US. Why in the world would the US want to derail this? Doesn’t make any sense.
No, but how would the USA give a fig in the first place?
As time goes on, and fuel becomes more and more important. We will see more and more of our allies making nice with Iran, and Russia, and all of those who can give them what they need.
Time is short. If the US still wishes to remain a super power, and a player on the world stage, she needs to make her move soon. As she sits now, she looks weak.
You are bogged down in Iraq, and every little chit arsed country is gunning for you. And while they flaunt their missiles and nuclear technology in your face, you do nothing.
I hope you all have a plan we don’t know about. You’re going to need one.
We don’t have much bargaining power with India. We need them and they know it. They can pretty much do as they like and we will just smile.
This is the alternate to the vaunted Afghan pipeline that was supposed to go from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India. I always said it was a fantasy, when Unocal was promoting it and later when Michael Moore & company were denouncing it, I knew it was something that could never happen.
The pipeline from Iran is a bit more practical, but it still leaves Pakistani crazies with a veto over Indian gas supplies. At one point the thought was to build the pipeline completely offshore, bypassing Pakistani soil altogether, but evidently Pakistan has given all the right assurances (and obviously if the pipeline isn't pumping they aren't making their fees).
I can see why Gazprom would finance it, though. The Afghan pipeline was intended to give Turkmenistan an outlet to the world that didn't depend upon Russia or Iran. This pipeline leaves Turkmenistan just as dependent upon Russian and Iranian good will as she ever was. The veto isn't just over India's gas supply, its over the whole country of Turkmenistan. I guess its a two-for-one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.