Pakistan sees Iran gas pipeline agreed by year-end

AMSTERDAM, June 9 (Reuters) Pakistan and Iran will have agreed all important elements of a planned gas pipeline by the end of this year, a Pakistan government adviser involved in the negotiations said today.

A plan to pump Iranian gas to India through Pakistan was first proposed more than a decade ago, but progress has been slow because of hostility between India and Pakistan and, more recently, US opposition to Iran because of its nuclear programme.

''Certainly within this year, we should have firmed up arrangements ... all the critical parameters will have been addressed,'' Mukhtar Ahmed told reporters on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference.

Ahmed said the pipeline was economic even without a proposed extension to India, but added Indian officials had expressed eagerness to participate.

In April, the oil ministers of Iran, India and Pakistan held talks in Qatar and said they were close to a deal on the gas pipeline, which could possibly be signed in June.

But while attending as an observer the OPEC meeting in Caracas on June 1, Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri said that despite good progress, there were issues to resolve, such as the price.

The Pakistani government's energy advisor said a proposed pipeline from Turkmenistan was less certain because it was unclear if there was sufficient gas available for the project.

Separately, Ahmed said he expected progress on the privatisation of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) ''imminently''.

The government listed 10 per cent of PPL on the Karachi Stock Exchange <.kse> in 2004 and last August shortlisted four potential bidders for a 51 per cent stake.

REUTERS PR KN2205