Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, May 23 / Trend H.Hasanov /
On Wednesday, Turkmenistan signed an agreement for the sale and purchase of natural gas as part of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, an official Turkmen source said today.
Buyers are gas companies State Gas Systems of Pakistan and India's GAIL ltd. The Afghan side, through which it is planned to carry out the transit of raw materials, is represented by its branch ministry. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with Kabul.
Representatives of the Asian Development Bank participated in preparation of the agreement. The signing ceremony took place in the Caspian Sea resort of Avaza prior to the opening of an international gas congress on Wednesday.
The address by President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was read out at the event which stressed the regional significance of this project.
The Ashgabat interstate agreement of member stated that the practical implementation of the TAPI project signed in late 2010 is the base document to promote TAPI project. The key issue on the agenda remains security of the project, passing through troubled Afghanistan.
The design capacity of the pipeline is up to 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The project is promoted by the Asian Development Bank. The resource base in addition to the Dovletabad field is the largest field in Turkmenistan, namely the Southern Yoloten - Osman (Galkynysh). The length of the pipeline may reach 1735 kilometres.
At present the principle of forming an international consortium is being discussed. The issue of financing the project is also being solved. Russia began to show interest in this project at a high level. Its implementation is supported by the U.S.