A 13-month-old peace process between the South Asian nuclear-armed rivals seems to have breathed new life into the project, however, with the Indian Cabinet recently giving its approval to a $ 4.5-billion deal to be signed with Iran in June, according to Iranian media. In a meeting in New Delhi earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and the Indian officials discussed the finer details of the proposed pipeline. "We are convinced that the Iran-India pipeline through Pakistan will benefit all three countries and substantially improve political and economic relations between India and Pakistan," Kharrazi said. Attending the energy summit in the Indian capital, a team of officials from the National Iranian Gas Co and the National Iranian Oil Co met with their Indian counterparts to discuss the project, including the quantity of gas, the size of the pipeline, its route, and the capital cost. According to a study by the BHP Billiton, the 2720-km pipeline will originate at Assaluyeh, Iran, and terminate at the Indian border, in the western state of Rajasthan, with a tap-off point at Multan in Pakistan. Iranian media quoted a top Indian official involved in the talks as saying that he hoped the project could take off in less than a year and be completed by 2010-11. What has most shadowed the project have been Indian concerns over the security of the pipeline and the guarantee of assured supplies, matters which, some Indian sources say, have been "satisfactorily addressed" under a new formula suggested by Iran. A security force will patrol the pipeline, most of which will be buried, and satellite monitoring and motion sensors will be installed to warn of any possible insurgent attack. The section of the pipeline passing through Pakistan is seen as a possible target of attack by local tribes who have, in the past, targeted oil and gas facilities. Moreover, the agreement with Iran will mandate the country to stop supplies to Pakistan should cease supplying India. The official was further quoted as having said India will build a "huge storage facility" that will be able to bunker a 15-day supply. Following a common initiative by the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan that they wanted to go ahead with the project, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz visited Iran day on a three-day trip to boost ties and discuss a the pipeline. He said the project could bring Iran and Pakistan closer and also benefit energy-starved India. "The three countries can create situation where it is beneficial to the economies of each," he said. With an estimated forecast economic growth rate of 6-7%, India is expected to require some 14 billion cuft/d of gas per day by 2025, up from the current 3.2 billion cuft/d. In consequence, the country relies on imports for around 70% of its energy needs. According to Iranian media, Tehran and New Delhi have already signed a contract worth $20-$30 billion for an annual import of 5-7 million tons of Iranian LNG to India. Iran the second-largest gas reserves in the world, after Russia. Pakistan, with a limited reserve of fossil fuel, and also enjoying a high economic growth rate of 6%, also has a vital need for foreign gas. Islamabad, Aziz said, is also considering Qatar and Turkmenistan as two potential gas providers, but neither country is as technically or economically attractive as Iran. Analysts believe that the political will in both Islamabad and New Delhi exists to see the project through. By calling the project the "pipeline of peace" or the "pipeline of friendship", Iranian and Pakistani officials hope it will ultimately act as a means of doing away with more than half a century of political enmity in the subcontinent. 18 April Iran: gas exports to Turkey resume IRAN'S Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, said that Iran has resumed natural gas export to Turkey following the warming of the weather, stressing that the interruption was due to cold weather and not differences between the two sides on price. The official told the Fars News Agency that the price issue has not yet been resolved, adding that both sides are continuing talks on the matter. Turkish Ambassador to Tehran Bozkurt Aran confirmed Ankara will continue to seek to lower the price of gas it imports from Iran by pipeline, stressing that the country is facing an upsurge in demand for natural gas due to rapid industrialization. "Our gas imports from Iran were interrupted several times this winter but the two countries settled the issue within the framework of bilateral economic cooperation," he said. 18 April Kazakhstan: Caspian consortium to boost oil pipeline capacity THE Caspian Pipeline Consortium's shareholders have agreed to boost the annual capacity from 28 to 67 million tons, and to increase the pumping tariff from $27 to $29.5/ton, according to Kazakhstan's Energy and Minerals Minister Vladimir Shkolnik, speaking after a conference of shareholders. "Agreement has been reached between all the shareholders, government, and private companies that the consortium has to be expanded", he said. "Expansion can begin in the second half of this year; we have to do it in the shortest possible time", Mr Shkolnik said. Agreement was also reached to increase the tariff for the pumping of oil by $2.5/ton. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium was set up in 1992 by the governments of Kazakhstan, Oman, and Russia for the construction and use of the 1,580-km long export oil pipeline from the Tenghiz field in Kazakhstan to Novorossiisk on the Black Sea. Russia has 24%, Kazakhstan 19%, and Oman 7% participation in the consortium. The remaining 50% is shared between Chevron (15%), Mobil Oil (7.5%), and Oryx (1.75%), as well as the Russian-American joint venture LUKArco (12.5%) and the Russian-British Rosneft-Shell Caspian Ventures (7.5%), British Gas (2%), Agip (2%), and Kazakhstan Pipeline (1.75%). The pipeline's maximum throughput will be 67 million ton/yr of oil.