KARACHI, Nov 28: Pakistan’s petroleum ministry is unaware of any decision regarding Iranian gas price suggested by the consultancy.

Responding to the report from New Delhi regarding the rejection by India and Pakistan over the consultant’s suggested price for buying Iranian gas, a senior source at the petroleum ministry told Dawn that no final decision in this regard had been taken by Pakistan so far.

An official of the ministry of petroleum and natural resources, who asked not to be named, said that he had no knowledge about the report involving Pakistan and India over rejection of consultant’s suggested price for buying Iranian gas.He said he could not comment on India’s stance on the issue but as far as Pakistan was concerned no decision had been taken yet.“Talks are still in progress,” he said, adding that a secretary-level meeting of the three countries would be held in December in which UK-based consultant Gaffney Cline & Associates, which was appointed by the three countries in September after reaching consensus on suitable price, will present their report. A suitable date is being finalised by all the three parties to discuss the report.

The issue of price, quality, quantity, volume, etc., and others relating to the project are being discussed on a broader perspective.

In reply to a query as to why this mega project is facing delay or is there any security issue hampering the project, the official said the billion-dollar project had been effectively activated during the last two years in which series of negotiations between the two countries were held, but it could not pick up pace. He said security of the pipeline was not an issue that could cause delay.

Responding to a query about the price offered by Pakistan, the petroleum ministry official said it would be discussed in the December meeting.

Iran had offered a price in August linked to Brent Crude that equated to about eight dollars per million British thermal units. The Indian offer was $4.25 per mmbtu.

Mohammad Sohail, head of research at Jehangir Siddqui Research, said the price had emerged as a big issue after a rise in global gas prices and Iran would definitely seek higher price. Besides, energy needs are now changing all over the world. On the other hand, Pakistan and India rely on expensive oil to meet the rising energy needs.

With Iran offering higher prices for its gas, both Pakistan and India need to evaluate this situation before the implementation of this mega pipeline project, he said, adding that the price had been a more sensitive issue than political and security issues for the last few years of negotiations between the three countries.