Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Sept. 30
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
The UAE business circles show great interest in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline construction project, Trend reports Sept. 30 with reference to Neutral Turkmenistan nwspaper.
Turkmenistan and the UAE are among the richest countries in the world in terms of mineral reserves, which creates the necessary conditions for the effective joining of efforts in the fuel and energy sector, opens up broad prospects for cooperation in the production and processing of oil and gas, and the withdrawal of energy resources to international markets, the Turkmenistan State News Agency reported.
The report mentions Dragon Oil among the companies from the UAE that are represented in Turkmenistan. This company, being one of the biggest foreign investors in the country, has been operating in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea under the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) since 1999.
Turkmenistan is one of the key players in the energy market in the Caspian region and it supplies gas to China and Russia.
The length of the Turkmen section of the TAPI pipeline, the construction of which was launched in December 2015, will be 205 kilometers. The pipeline will 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 city of Fazilka in India. The construction of the Afghan section of the pipeline was initiated in February 2018, while the construction of the Pakistani section is set to begin in October 2019.
Representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Saudi Fund for Development, the government of Japan and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) expressed their interest in participating in TAPI financing.
Three main areas for participation by potential foreign investors in the project are trade, supply of pipe and gas equipment; financing through provision of loans; and investment in the TAPI project and in development of the big Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan and participation in the TAPI consortium.