TEHRAN (PIN) – Iranian minister of Petroleum’s special envoy for Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas contract, peace pipeline, said the three sides showed goodwill toward finalization of the deal by June 30.

Hojjatollah Ghanimifard told reporters the last round of trilateral talks would be held in Pakistan.

He added the finalization of the contract needed long-term expert-level studies and the parties had exchanged texts and views.

Pakistan and India had minimized their differences, said the international affairs manager of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), adding the remaining issues would be settled within the next month.

Tehran played host to the trilateral talks from May 27-30. Ghanimifard added the three states agreed to prepare the documents of the gas contract 12 days after Tehran negotiations.

“On the first and second days of Tehran meeting, the three countries’ experts, legal, financial, and commercial advisors, and companies’ officials exchanged views on technical issues of the contract,” said the envoy, adding the top officials of trio discussed the project on the third and fourth days.

“As the peace pipeline project is a long-term 25-year contract, it opens a new chapter in the history of three states’ energy and gas ties and it demands the trio’s agreement,” said Ghanimifard, expressing hope the contents of the agreement would be provided soon.

Some amendments to the contract were ready and the three parties were to receive the text and inform their officials of its content, he added. The NIOC’s international affairs manager said, “In addition, another text that provides the list of contracting companies in the finalized contract will be prepared. “The text also indicates whether the ministers or their deputies will sign the contract.”

Ghanimifard said the sides agreed to settle few unsettled issues of the contract within the deadline, June 30.

Peace pipeline is 2,775 kilometers long that will deliver natural gas from Iran to Pakistan and India. The project is expected to take three to five years to complete and will cost $7 billion.

He told PIN the views of Pakistan and India on price were getting close. Talking about Turkmenistan’s exporting gas to Pakistan and India, Ghanimifard said competition in gas market was completely natural, however, adding if conditions were based on logical and international norms, the contracting parties would prefer Iran.

“The initial demand of Pakistan and India for Iran’s gas amounted to 150 million cubic meters per day, but we announced that Iran had now the capacity to supply 60 million cubic meters of commodity daily and we could increase its volume in next phases,” said the official, concluding that it was natural that Pakistan was seeking a contract with Turkmenistan as Iran was not able at present to meet Pakistan’s need fully.