TAPI Gas Pipeline Advances with Agreements between Turkmenistan-Afghanistan and Pakistan-India

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, which at one time appeared to be mired in disputes and differences among the participating countries, has received new impetus from meetings between the potential partners. The presidents of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan met and agreed on the benefits that this major energy project would give all parties.

For Afghanistan, the pipeline would help to stimulate the economy, raise investment, solve social issues--including employment--and stabilize the country. The two countries have an intergovernmental partnership on electrical power, under which power is exported to Afghanistan.

The project feasibility study plots the 1,735-kilometer pipeline, which runs from the major gas fields in eastern Turkmenistan across Afghanistan and Pakistan to Fazika in India, on the Pakistan border. The capacity of the pipeline will be 30 billion cubic meters annually.

In this meeting of minds on TAPI, India and Pakistan have agreed in principle to a uniform transit fee formula for transportation of the gas through the other countries to India.

At a bilateral meeting of the countries, petroleum ministers from Pakistan agreed, in principle, that whatever fee is eventually settled between India and Afghanistan would be acceptable to Pakistan, subject to approval of their competent authority.

At a meeting, the two countries agreed to conduct negotiations in a transparent manner, bearing in mind the overall economics of the project (the laded cost of gas) and in accordance with the relevant international practices. Both parties agreed to settle the transit fee issue at the earliest opportunity to expedite the signing of the gas sale purchase agreement.

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