ISLAMABAD, July 25: Pakistan said on Friday it hoped to select a major new regional gas pipeline project by the end of this year, choosing between three options to meet soaring domestic demand.

The government has been actively investigating the possibility of piping gas from the rich fields of Turkmenistan through Afghanistan, and experts say this project remains the most likely option.

But Islamabad has also held talks with Iran and Qatar for separate pipelines to supply natural gas.

Ministry of Petroleum secretary Abdullah Yusuf said a decision on the “best solution” was likely this year once feasibility studies of the three projects have been completed.

“Once the feasibility studies are prepared, then we can draw a comparison and decide which one is really the best solution,” he told Reuters.

Gas currently meets 37 per cent of Pakistan’s energy needs and official estimates suggest Pakistan could face a shortfall of more than 600 million cubic feet of gas per day by 2009-10 with the gradual switching of its power sector from expensive imported oil to cheaper gas.

Energy experts believe Pakistan needs to decide on one of the three gas pipelines in the next few months to make sure the project is finished in time to meet the expected demand.

Mr Yusuf said it was premature to say which of the three projects was favourite, but analysts say the Turkmen pipeline project had a headstart.

“Of the three pipelines, there are more chances that Turkmenistan pipeline will materialize because it is the only project on which serious work has been done,” said Arshad Arif, research head at brokers Khadim Ali Shah and Bokhari (KASB).

The Asian Development Bank has already provided a $1.0 million grant to finance a feasibility study, and officials from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan met in Ashkabad last month to approve the route for the proposed pipeline.

Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, the three main players, invited energy-hungry India in April to join the project, and analysts say Indian participation would go a long way towards making the project profitable.

Pakistani officials say the steering committee will meet again in Islamabad in October to review the progress.

“The amount of progress that has been made, and now when they are talking about the funding, shows that this project has a chance,” Murad Ansari, an energy expert at KASB said. “No one finances an unviable project.” —Reuters