Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 16
By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:
It is planned until September 2017 to hold an international tender for the purchase of pipes and other equipment necessary for the TAPI pipeline construction in 2018 and its launch in 2019, the Vatan newspaper reported.
Preparations are also being made for the projects of the gas compressor station and other associated facilities that will be built on the pipeline route.
The report said Vice-premier Maksat Babaev informed about the ongoing realization of the project at the meeting of the cabinet of ministers.
Currently, in accordance with the schedule, the Turkmen section of the gas pipeline is being laid.
Babayev, who oversees the Turkmen oil and gas complex, previously said that the Turkmen section of TAPI pipeline is being laid in accordance with the approved plans.
TAPI will make it possible to deliver gas from Turkmenistan, which ranks fourth in the world for its gas reserves, to large and promising markets of South and Southeast Asia.
The pipeline will run from Galkynysh – the largest gas field in Turkmenistan – through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar, and finally reach the Fazilka settlement located near the India-Pakistan border.
Annual capacity of the gas pipeline will reach 33 billion cubic meters. Total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers. The project's preliminary cost is estimated at $10 billion.