Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Dec. 9 / Trend H.Hasanov /
An intergovernmental agreement to implement the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project is expected to be signed in Ashgabat on Dec. 11 with the heads of state of project participant countries, the Altin Asir national television channel reported today.
The ninth meeting of a technical working group developing the TAPI gas pipeline project is underway in Ashgabat.
The agenda includes preparing an agreement for the sale of Turkmen gas, an intergovernmental agreement on the implementation of the TAPI project, and issues relating to a feasibility study and project funding.
The package will be submitted for final revision to "the participants of the twelfth meeting of the TAPI Steering Committee" on Dec. 10.
The Ashgabat summit should be held with the "utmost effectiveness," Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov said earlier.
He added that it is symbolic that the summit will be held on the eve of the fifteenth anniversary of Turkmenistan's neutrality on Dec. 12.
According to a previously prepared feasibility study, the pipeline's capacity will reach more than 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Recently, it was reported that the final buyers in Southeast Asia, including Pakistan and India, have expressed an interest in acquiring much larger volumes in the long term.
Ashgabat hopes to include "Southern Yoloten-Osman" in addition to the Dovletabad Field in the project. Its reserves, according to recent data, are estimated at 21 trillion cubic meters of gas, and will serve as the resource base for TAPI.