KARACHI: Construction of a multibillion-dollar project with Russia to transport 1.6 billion cubic feet per day of regasified liquefied natural gas from the cities of Karachi to Kasur will commence in July this year, a top Pakistani official said on Sunday.
The project, earlier called the North-South Pipeline but recently renamed the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline Project, will deliver gas from Pakistan’s coastal regions to industrial areas in the north. It has been held up since 2015 due to a disagreement over fees and United States sanctions against Russian state conglomerate Rostec.
In November, Russian officials visited Pakistan for three-day-long negotiations to finalize work on the project, the biggest infrastructure deal with Russia since the early 1970s when the Soviet Union set up the Pakistan Steel Mills industrial complex at Port Qasim, near Karachi.
“Yes, we are working on the pipeline with Russians,” Nadeem Babar, special assistant to the prime minister on petroleum, told Arab News. “The construction of the 1,100 km long pipeline that will transport 1.6 bcfd gas will start in July.”
Babar said it was too early to estimate the cost of the project, but officials had earlier put it between $2-3 billion. Documents submitted to the Supreme Court of Pakistan by the Pakistani government show the cost of the project was estimated at $2.7 billion.
The project will be implemented through a special purpose company to be incorporated in Pakistan, with Pakistan holding majority shares.
During the November 2020 meeting, officials from both nations agreed to sign a protocol for amendment in an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) signed in 2015 to reflect a revised implementation structure for the project after requisite approvals from the two governments.
Indigenous natural gas contributes around 38 percent to Pakistan’s total primary energy supply mix. Pakistan produces around 4 billion cubic feet per day against an unconstrained demand of 6 bcfd and imports gas to meet the deficit, particularly when demand peaks in winters.
Pakistan has become an emerging buyer in the international LNG market over the last few years, with an increasing gap between demand and supply of gas.
The power sector is Pakistan’s largest natural gas consumer, followed by residential consumption and the fertilizer industry.
Pakistan says work on Russian gas pipeline project to start in July
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Pakistan says work on Russian gas pipeline project to start in July
- The 1,100 km long pipeline will transport 1.6 billion cubic feet per day of regasified liquefied natural gas from the cities of Karachi to Kasur
- The gas pipeline project is the biggest infrastructure deal with Russia since the early 1970s, when the Soviet Union set up Pakistan Steel Mills
Pakistan says $50 million meat export deal with Tajikistan nearing finalization
- Islamabad expects to finalize agreement soon after Dushanbe signals demand for 100,000 tons
- Pakistan is seeking to expand agricultural trade beyond rice, citrus and mango exports
ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan has expressed interest in importing 100,000 tons of Pakistani meat worth more than $50 million, with both governments expected to finalize a supply agreement soon, Pakistan’s food security ministry said on Tuesday.
Pakistan is trying to grow agriculture-based exports as it seeks regional markets for livestock and food commodities, while Tajikistan, a landlocked Central Asian state, has been expanding food imports to support domestic demand. Pakistan currently exports rice, citrus and mangoes to Dushanbe, though volumes remain small compared to national production, according to official figures.
The development came during a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain and Ambassador of Tajikistan Yusuf Sharifzoda, where agricultural trade, livestock supply and food-security cooperation were discussed.
“Tajikistan intends to purchase 100,000 tons of meat from Pakistan, an import valued at over USD 50 million,” the ambassador said, according to the ministry’s statement, assuring full facilitation and that Islamabad was prepared to meet the demand.
The statement said the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in meat and livestock, fresh fruit, vegetables, staple crops, agricultural research, pest management and standards compliance. Pakistan also proposed strengthening coordination on phytosanitary rules and establishing pest-free production zones to support long-term exports.
Pakistan and Tajikistan have long maintained political ties but bilateral food trade remains below potential: Pakistan produces 1.8 million tons of mangoes annually but exported just 0.7 metric tons to Tajikistan in 2024, while rice exports amounted to only 240 metric tons in 2022 out of national output of 9.3 million tons. Pakistan imports mainly ginned cotton from Tajikistan.
