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Russia to Lend Pakistan $2 Billion for Gas Pipeline Construction
Pakistan and Russia have finalized an agreement under which Moscow will lend Islamabad $2 billion to lay a pipeline that will transport liquefied natural gas (LNG).
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Pakistan
and Russia have finalized an agreement under which Moscow will lend
Islamabad $2 billion to lay a pipeline that will transport liquefied
natural gas (LNG) from Karachi to Lahore.
In return Russian companies will be given the contract to build the pipeline. The Russian contractors will build a 1,100-kilometer-long pipeline. The first LNG exports will start in 2016, and Russia has also offered to sell gas to Pakistan.
In return Russian companies will be given the contract to build the pipeline. The Russian contractors will build a 1,100-kilometer-long pipeline. The first LNG exports will start in 2016, and Russia has also offered to sell gas to Pakistan.
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This is not the first major cooperation agreement between the two
countries over infrastructure.
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The former Soviet Union had financed the construction of the state-owned Pakistan Steel Mills under a similar arrangement. It had also helped to supply oil drilling equipment for the state-owned Oil and Gas Development Company. Some of that equipment is still in use today.
(Part of a bigger package promised to Pakistan in the 1980's by the Soviet government if the Pakistan military dropped their support for the Afghan Mujaheddin. 60 such projects were promised worth over $20-40 billion. Pakistan declined the generous Soviet offer. However the steel mill project went ahead regardless of the Punjab military position. However the steel mill was built in the wrong place, near Karachi, when it should have been built in Kalabagh, Southern Punjab.....an area that contains at least 10 billion tons of high quality iron ore. It is rumored that the powerful Karachi commercial lobby ensured that the steel mill was built on their turf......using imported iron ore and coal???!!!...Or the Soviets did not have the technology to fully utilize the type of iron ore in Kalabagh???!!! The same Karachi commercial lobby that blocked the attempt by Krupps of Germany to build a steel mill at Kalabagh, using free EU money in 1965!
The Soviet Union/Russia has always been fascinated by Pakistan, with its strategic position and its affinity and smell of Central Asia, BUT Pakistan's closeness to the USA led by the Punjab military has prevented a full blossoming of a relationship.
There is now a nationalist government in power in Pakistan, and it is more than likely it will eventually after many years build a substantial integrated steel mill at Kalabagh either with Russian help, or with Chinese assistance. Pakistan may have a shortfall of 13 million tons of steel, which will have to be imported by 2020)
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Earlier this month, Pakistan launched its first LNG import terminal in the southern seaport of Karachi in a bid to counter power shortages in the country. But the consumption of gas in the country exceeds the existing pipeline capacity; hence, new pipelines are needed urgently.
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Natural gas is liquefied for transportation over long distances and must be de-gasified before being distributed further via pipelines.
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The former Soviet Union had financed the construction of the state-owned Pakistan Steel Mills under a similar arrangement. It had also helped to supply oil drilling equipment for the state-owned Oil and Gas Development Company. Some of that equipment is still in use today.
(Part of a bigger package promised to Pakistan in the 1980's by the Soviet government if the Pakistan military dropped their support for the Afghan Mujaheddin. 60 such projects were promised worth over $20-40 billion. Pakistan declined the generous Soviet offer. However the steel mill project went ahead regardless of the Punjab military position. However the steel mill was built in the wrong place, near Karachi, when it should have been built in Kalabagh, Southern Punjab.....an area that contains at least 10 billion tons of high quality iron ore. It is rumored that the powerful Karachi commercial lobby ensured that the steel mill was built on their turf......using imported iron ore and coal???!!!...Or the Soviets did not have the technology to fully utilize the type of iron ore in Kalabagh???!!! The same Karachi commercial lobby that blocked the attempt by Krupps of Germany to build a steel mill at Kalabagh, using free EU money in 1965!
The Soviet Union/Russia has always been fascinated by Pakistan, with its strategic position and its affinity and smell of Central Asia, BUT Pakistan's closeness to the USA led by the Punjab military has prevented a full blossoming of a relationship.
There is now a nationalist government in power in Pakistan, and it is more than likely it will eventually after many years build a substantial integrated steel mill at Kalabagh either with Russian help, or with Chinese assistance. Pakistan may have a shortfall of 13 million tons of steel, which will have to be imported by 2020)
.
Earlier this month, Pakistan launched its first LNG import terminal in the southern seaport of Karachi in a bid to counter power shortages in the country. But the consumption of gas in the country exceeds the existing pipeline capacity; hence, new pipelines are needed urgently.
.
Natural gas is liquefied for transportation over long distances and must be de-gasified before being distributed further via pipelines.
