Pakistan inclined to buy Iranian oil, gas, electricity

TEHRAN,April 3(MNA) - The prime minister of Pakistan said that the country plans to buy 1100 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Iran, and is interested in purchasing oil and gas from its western neighbor despite the U.S.-led sanctions. Yusuf Raza Gilani made the remarks while talking to Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh in Boao, China. The electricity supplied from Iran to the Pakistani Balochistan Province would prove especially helpful in overcoming the country’s energy shortage, Gilani said, Press TV reported on Sunday. The Pakistani prime minister also expressed interest in buying oil, gas and electricity from Iran despite the U.S.-led sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic over Tehran’s nuclear energy program. On February 26, 2012, Iran doubled its power supply to the Makran region of Pakistan from 35 MW per day to 70 MW after the enhancement of transmission lines. A spokesman for Pakistan’s Ministry of Water and Power told reporters that the daily 70 MW supply will meet the electricity demand of the Makran division for the next five years. Iran is currently exchanging electricity with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Nakhichevan, Turkey and Turkmenistan.