Briefing to PM on N-S Gas Pipeline: Timeline for commercial deal may be delayed till May

ISLAMABAD: The timeline with regard to finalizing and then signing of commercial agreement for the North-South Gas Pipeline Project (NSGPP) may be delayed till somewhere in the month of May because of the ‘confusion’ over the latest and previous structures for completing the project.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has been informed about this in a special briefing over the much-delayed project given on Wednesday by top mandarins of the Petroleum Division. The prime minister was also sensitized that the progress can be expedited and completed earlier once the ‘confusion’ was cleared on time.

However, chances are there that finalization of the commercial agreement may linger on till May, the month when the prime minister is scheduled to visit Russia where the signing ceremony of commercial agreement for N-S gas pipeline will be taking place, a senior official privy to the briefing told The News. "The chief executive of the country was told that pipeline of over 1,100 kilometers from Karachi to Lahore would be completed in (build own operate and transfer) BOOT mode."

The delay in completing the timeline, he said, may attract resentment from Russia as the timeline for finalizing the commercial agreement was set by April 15, 2020. However, the Russian energy minister urged his Pakistani counterpart Omar Ayub Khan in the latest letter dated February 24, 2020 to play a role in expediting the approval of the amendments to the agreement as well as arranging negotiation between the nominated organizations (North-South Gas Pipeline (Pvt) Limited) and Inter-State Gas System (on all technical and commercial aspects of the project with an aim of signing the required commercial agreements before the end of March 2020).

The previous structure has been included in the race by ‘powerful circles’ despite the fact the Petroleum Division was not satisfied with the said structure on account of input from the Ministry of Law and Justice. On the perpetual demand of Petroleum Division, Russia came up with the new sanctions-free structure. In the new sanctions free structure, ETK (a holding company) is also the other shareholder having vast pipeline building experience of over 30,000kms of trunk pipelines.