STEERING COMMITTEE FORMED TO REVIEW
PROGRESS IN CO-OPERATION
WITH IRAN
In order to provide
a momentum towards greater co-operation between India and Iran
in Hydrocarbon sector, Shri Ram Naik, Minister of Petroleum &
Natural Gas has formed a high level Steering Committee to review
the progress on various action points finalised and agreed during
the last visit of Shri Ram Naik to Iran. The committee would be
headed by Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas with
a representative each of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA)
and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). CMDs of ONGC, OIL, IOCL
and GAIL would also be Members of the Committee. The Committee
would review every month the progress made on various action points
including import of 5 million tonnes of LNG from Iran and obtaining
interests in discovered as well as semi-discovered oil and gas
fields by Indian Public Sector Companies like OVL.
It may be recalled
that the first meeting of Indo-Iran Joint Working Group (JWG)
on Hydrocarbon sector was held in Tehran on 11th to 13th May.
The JWG was set-up following the signing of a MoU between India
and Iran in January 2003 to identify specific areas of co-operation
in Hydrocarbon sector. It was decided during the JWG meeting in
Tehran that the import of LNG by India and the acquisition of
interests in discovered fields in Iran would be developed into
a composite co-operation package with a milestone based time table.
As per the agreed minutes signed on the last day of JWG meeting,
the possibility of LNG import and acquisition of interest in discovered
fields would be firmed up within six months and Gas Sale and Purchase
Agreement (GSPA) signed within next nine months. The project would
be completed within four years of the signing of GSPA. The two
countries also agreed for extension of the technical consultancy
service by GAIL in development of CNG network for supply to vehicles
in Tehran. The experience of GAIL in developing the world’s largest
CNG dispensing system in Delhi would be of immense help to Iran.
The Indian Capital Delhi has about 70,000 vehicles on CNG including
10,000 buses as compared to only about 1,500-2000 buses in other
cities of the world. The two countries would also work in identifying
specific projects for Indian participation in petrochemical industry
of Iran and in upgrading the refineries of Iran.
