"If Iran agrees, we will be ready to increase gas imports from Iran from 750mln cubic meters to 1,000mln cubic meters of gas per day," Hussain said on Monday when asked by two legislators at the parliament about the latest conditions of gas cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad.
"Iran has promised to grant a 250-million-dollar loan to Pakistan for the construction of the pipeline and (once the pipeline is complete) Pakistan will be able to import 750mln cubic meters of gas (from Iran) on a daily basis," he added.
Hussain predicted that his country's daily gas imports from Iran would increase to 2,100mln cubic meters in 2014 or 2015.
Demand for natural gas in Pakistan has outstripped supply in recent years, putting existing reserves under immense pressure.
The total consumption of natural gas in the country stands at 3480 MMCFD million cubic feet per day of which the power sector consumes 959 mmcfd, with 747 mmcdf being consumed in the domestic sector. Meanwhile 578 mmcfd of gas is consumed by the fertilizer industry, four mmcfd by the cement industry. While 107 mmcfd is consumed commercially. 327 mmcfd is consumed by CNG cylinders which are widely installed in locally manufactured vehicles in Pakistan.
The 2700-kilometer long pipeline was to supply gas for Pakistan and India which are suffering a lack of energy sources, but India has evaded talks. In 2011, Iran and Pakistan declared they would finalize the agreement bilaterally if India continued to be absent in the meetings.
According to the project proposal, the pipeline will begin from Iran's Assalouyeh Energy Zone in the south and stretch over 1,100 km through Iran. In Pakistan, it will pass through Baluchistan and Sindh but officials now say the route may be changed if China agrees to the project.
The gas will be supplied from the South Pars gas field in the Iranian Southern province of Bushehr. The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 22 billion cubic meters of natural gas per annum, which is expected to be later raised to 55 billion cubic meters. It is expected to cost $7.4 billion.
Iran has already built more than 900 kilometers of the pipeline on its soil.
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