ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India will hold secretary-level talks on bilateral trade of petroleum products and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) gas pipeline project in New Delhi from March 23.
Talking to Dawn, Petroleum and Natural Resources Secretary Mohammad Ejaz Chaudhry said that he would be leading a delegation to India later this week to discuss the possibility of importing refined petroleum products and the transit fee to be charged on the Tapi pipeline to pass through Pakistan.
He said the Pakistan delegation would also attend an international conference on natural gas being held in New Delhi on March 23-25.
The talks on trade of petroleum products had been postponed twice this year, first on the request of the Indian authorities and then on Pakistan’s request.
Mr Chaudhry said there was no formal proposal on the table since it was the first meeting of the technical committee on petroleum trade. It would be a sort of fact-finding mission, another official said.
The first meeting of the technical committee will exchange information relating to quality aspects and its pricing, the mode of transportation and its cost and the possible quantities for trading different petroleum products.
Mr Chaudhry said Pakistan was currently exporting naphtha – a low-quality petrol – at cheaper rates because of quality issues at Pakistani refineries which could be considered for export to India and adjusted against import of other refined products mostly for upper areas of the country, including Punjab, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Currently fed by Attock Refinery Limited, these areas often face supply problems because of refinery’s limited capacity.
Although both India and Pakistan have finalised gas prices with Turkmenistan, Tapi project has not made any material progress despite full support from the United States, mainly because of inability of the two countries to finalise transit fee to be paid by New Delhi.
It was the petroleum ministry that initially proposed in 2009 to the government to grant the MFN status to India to facilitate import of petroleum products and export of cement and chemicals for a cost-effective proposition for both countries. The ministry had argued that the oil imports should be conditional to India facilitating export of Pakistani cement and chemicals without any barriers.