Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 23
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
The Turkmen section of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline is planned to be completed by the end of 2019, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmenistan State News Agency.
The total length of the pipeline, with a capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year will be 1,840 kilometers. The length of the Turkmen section will be 205 kilometers.
The leader of TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd is Turkmengas, which has the controlling stake and acts as the main financier and project manager. The consortium also includes the Afghan Gas Corporation, Pakistan’s Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited and Indian GAIL.
“In general, the consortium hopes to complete the first phase of the project in 2020,” reads the report. “The second phase envisages construction of compressor stations along the pipeline, which will increase its capacity.”
The great progress made in promoting the TAPI project was recently noted by representatives of TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd, the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and companies Allen & Overy LLP, Сredit Suisse, Bilfinger Tebodin Middle East Ltd in their speeches at the recent gas congress in Turkmenistan’s Awaza tourist resort.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister of Pakistan on Petroleum Nadeem Baber said at the congress that the practical implementation of project will soon begin.
The construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI, with an annual capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas, was launched on December 13, 2015, while the construction of the Afghan section commenced in February 2018. Pakistan plans to start the work on its pipeline section this year.
The energy bridge will then pass through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar (816 kilometers), through the cities of Quetta and Multan across Pakistani territory (819 kilometers), and reach the settlement of Fazilka in India.
Muhammetmyrat Amanow, CEO of TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd., said in December 2018 during a roundtable meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan that the cost of the Turkmen gas, which will be supplied to Pakistan, will be significantly lower compared to the price of liquefied gas imported by Islamabad.