ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Nov. 7
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
A presentation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline took place in Milan on Nov. 7, Trend reports referring to Turkmenistan State News Agency.
Businessmen at the joint Turkmen-Italian business forum were acquainted with the current state of the TAPI project, including its technical, procurement, social, financial parameters.
Suppliers and construction companies from Italy were invited to participate in its implementation.
The Turkmengas State Concern has already laid about 100 kilometers of trunk pipes on the Turkmen part of the gas pipeline. The length of the Afghan and Pakistani sections of TAPI is 1,635 kilometers. Three gas sampling stations will operate in Afghanistan and three more in Pakistan.
The attention of the audience was drawn to the significance of the project in terms of economic benefits that it will bring to the region. Access to Turkmen gas will stimulate industrialization and attract investment in the region, while Afghanistan and Pakistan will receive billions in transit fees.
Moreover, gas pipeline operators based in Germany, Greece and Turkey and their local subcontractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan will have significant economic dividends.
This project is expected to create more than 40,000 jobs in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Most of them will be associated with the construction, operation, maintenance and security of the gas pipeline, which will also serve as an incentive for the industrialization of these countries and increase the social standard of living of the population.
The Turkmengas State Concern is the leader of the TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd. international consortium. It has a controlling stake and acts as the main financier and manager of the project. The consortium also includes the Afghan Gas Corporation, Pakistan’s Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited Company and India’s GAIL Company.
The operations on laying the Turkmen section of the TAPI gas pipeline are planned to be completed till late 2019, the construction of which was launched in December 2015. The construction of the Afghan section was launched in February 2018.
The pipeline’s design capacity will be 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
The project is being promoted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a project transaction advisor. TAPI's resource base will be Galkynysh, the second largest field in the world (after South Pars in Iran).
Instability in transit Afghanistan remains a serious obstacle, but Kabul claims to be able to ensure the safety of the route. Russia is showing a high level of interest in this project. Its implementation is supported by the US, which oppose a similar project from Iran to Pakistan.