Foreign assistance: Russian consortium offers to fund IP gas pipeline
By Zafar Bhutta The Express Tribune (Pakistan)Published: June 13, 2012
http://tribune.com.pk/story/392857/foreign-assistance-russian-consortium-offers-to-fund-ip-gas-pipeline/

INVESTMENT: $500m is the amount sought by Pakistan for IP gas pipeline.

ISLAMABAD:

The interest in acquiring a contract for construction of the Iran-Pakistan
gas pipeline is growing lately as GPB Global Resources, an international
group of companies and a subsidiary of Gazprom Bank of Russia, has come up
with an offer that it can finance the $1.5 billion pipeline project if the
contract is awarded to the Russian energy giant – Gazprom, sources say.

The two sides are expected to make progress on the proposal during the
upcoming three-day visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to Russia from June
19.

Earlier, during a recent trip to China, President Zardari and Petroleum
Minister Dr Asim Hussain also succeeded in convincing the Chinese leadership
to take part in bidding for the construction of the IP gas pipeline.

Tehran has also offered to lay the pipeline in Pakistan’s territory on a
supplier credit basis. According to an official of the Ministry of Petroleum
and Natural Resources, Iran is ready to provide pipeline and compressors on
a supplier credit basis for which payments could be made after two years.

Iran is also willing to provide $250 million as government-to-government
credit and can extend some major portion of financing from its commercial
banks. Pakistan seeks over $500 million to finance the pipeline project.

GPB Global Resources is engaged in petroleum and mineral resource projects
in various parts of the globe including Africa, South America and the Middle
East.

The petroleum ministry official said Stroyprogress Group, the contracting
arm of Gazprom, had approached Pakistan to offer engineering, procurement
and construction (EPC) services with the support of GPB Global Resources.

“Our consortium is ready to fund this project with an EPC contract,” top
management of Stroyprogress said in a letter sent to the government of
Pakistan.

It claimed Stroyprogress Group was a well-known EPC contractor for
construction of gas pipelines in Russia and had extensive work experience as
the contracting arm of Gazprom.

The 42-inch diameter IP pipeline will transmit 750 million cubic feet per
day (mmcfd) to 1 bcfd of high-pressure gas from the off-take point near
Gwadar to Nawabshah. The country is facing severe energy crisis and gas
imported from Iran will be used for power generation to end load-shedding.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2012.