Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 6
By Huseyn Hasanov– Trend:
A number of export credit agencies of Europe and Asia are showing interest in participating in construction of the Afghan and Pakistani sections of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, Nebit-Gaz, online newspaper of the country’s Oil and Gas Complex, reported.
“As planned, the construction of the TAPI pipeline will be completed by the end of 2019, and then the first gas deliveries will begin,” said the report.
Ashgabat has recently hosted a panel discussion on the TAPI gas pipeline, the report noted.
Representatives of TAPI Pipeline Company Limited, Vnesheconombank Turkmenistan, Asian Development Bank, Office of President of Afghanistan, as well as ILF Consulting Engineers, Allen & Overy, EY/AHB companies took part in the meeting, the report said.
Currently, international tenders are held to purchase equipment and the related infrastructure for the TAPI gas pipeline, as well as to lay routes for the pipeline in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to the report.
The work is underway to attract financing for the gas pipeline project and it is planned to start construction of the pipeline’s Afghan and Pakistani sections in the near future, said the report.
Construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI started in 2015 and is scheduled to finish in late 2018. The total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers. A 214-kilometer section of the pipeline will run through Turkmenistan, a 774-kilometer section will run through Afghanistan and an 826-kilometer section will run through Pakistan to Fazilka settlement on the border with India. The pipeline’s annual capacity will be 33 billion cubic meters of gas.