The federal cabinet has approved the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project under which Pakistan will import a billion cubic feet of gas for power generation in the country.

Under the Rural Electrification Scheme, the Power and Energy Ministry has supplied electricity to Mimaduma electorate where around 1000 families live. The people in this electorate have lived 30 years without electricity facilities, the Power and Energy Ministry said.

Iran, a major oil producing and exporting country, also imports gasoline because of inadequate refining capacity and rising petrol consumption.

The Caspian region is one of the oldest hydrocarbon producing areas in the world, and is emerging once again as a major source of growth in global oil and gas supply.

Book>> Oil on the Brain

Iranians on Saturday were told to cut their electricity consumption by 10 per cent or face daily power cuts because of a severe drought and low production by hydroelectric power plants. Residents of the capital Tehran could face up to four hours of blackouts each day, officials said according to media reports. "If consumers do not cut down consumption by 10 per cent, we will have blackouts until the end of the summer,' Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Ahmadian told Fars news agency.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday launched a 1.2 billion dollars project largely funded by Tehran to upgrade Sri Lanka's sole oil refinery, officials said. Ahmadinejad and Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse planted an ebony sapling to launch work at the Sapugaskande refinery, just outside the capital Colombo. The four-year upgrade will triple Sri Lanka's refinery capacity to 150,000 barrels per day from the current 50,000 barrels.

>> The Iranian government has banned the website www. baztab.com. The site linked to former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezai, has recently published articles criticising the economic

Striking down the requests of the governments of India and Pakistan, Iran has made it clear that the country will not sell its gas at a knock-down rate. "The price suggested by India and

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has voiced concern over the environmental impact of Iran's nuclear programme. UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan raised the issue in Abu Dhabi

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