Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 1 /. Trend E.Ismayilov /
The contractor for development of a feasibility study (FS) of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline will be determined in April, managing director and head of the Business Development Department of Azerbaijani ASPI Consulting Engineers, Inc. Ibrahim Mammadzadeh told Trend.
He said Turkmenistan which has large gas reserves, is considering the possibility of diversification of gas supply and a project of a pipeline to India is relevant in this regard.
"India is a very large market, a country with high levels of natural gas consumption, while Turkmenistan has significant gas reserves," Mammadzadeh said.
Mammadzadeh said the opening of tender bids will be held in early April. Seven companies participated in the tender, four of which created a consortium. ASPI Consulting Engineers, Inc. participated in the tender in a consortium with other companies including German RWE which has experience in Turkmenistan.
As Mammadzadeh noted, in turn, ASPI has experience in Afghanistan, and in particular, the company was involved in a number of projects there implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Mammadzadeh believes that the consortium, including the ASPI Company, has a better chance of winning. The project implementation period is 36 months.
The total length of TAPI is 1735 kilometres. According to the project, the highway should reach out to the largest Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar, to reach its final point at the village of Fazilka on the border between India and Pakistan.
The capacity will be 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year. At this stage negotiations are being held for the sale of fuel and the formation of a consortium. Observers believe that implementation of TAPI can contribute to Afghanistan's restoration as it will create jobs and provide the country with a guaranteed income for transit.