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Govt backtracks from joining TAPI gas pipeline project
Published : Sunday, 03 February 2013
Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
M Azizur Rahman
The government has backtracked from its plan to join the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project as it is not commercially viable, a top energy ministry official said Saturday.
Importing natural gas from the distant Central Asia's Turkmenistan to South Asia's Bangladesh through three separate countries will not be feasible as the price of gas will be higher, he said.
State-owned Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL) recently carried out a feasibility study on the country's inclusion with the TAPI project and found it not-viable, said the official of the Energy Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
The GTCL carried out the study following instruction from the energy ministry.
"We have seen that Bangladesh's inclusion with TAPI will not be economically viable due to the long distance from the source of gas in that country," GTCL Managing Director Md Aminur Rahman told the FE Saturday.
Ashgabat of Turkmenistan is around 3,417 kms (2,123 miles) from Dhaka and the distance of TAPI's last location -- New Delhi -- is around 1,424 kms (884 miles) away.
If we get connected with TAPI project we will have to pay huge amount of money as wheeling charge to the gas carrying countries -- Afghanistan, Pakistan and India -- apart from the Turkmenistan gas price," Aminur Rahman said.
Besides, Bangladesh will have to construct gas transmission pipeline of around 1,424 kms to carry the gas to TAPI's last point to Bangladesh, said another GTCL official.
It would increase the Turkmenistan gas price substantially for Bangladesh, said the official.
Bangladesh in May 2012 had sent an initial proposal to the TAPI steering committee expressing its interest to be part of the TAPI gas pipeline to ensure an alternative source of energy to meet its growing fuel demand.
The TAPI steering committee had accepted the proposal from Bangladesh and asked for submission a more detailed plan.
Bangladesh was asked to specify technical details such as expected gas off-take volumes, gas quality, delivery pressure and a tentative date to start to ensure its connectivity with the TAPI project.
Instead of submitting the detailed plan for inclusion with the TAPI to the steering committee, the government had sought details about the quantity of available gas for Bangladesh and how long it would be available, its pressure and prices.
Bangladesh also sought whether any funding arrangement would be available for Bangladesh to make up for the cost of joining the mega gas pipeline project before pulling out of the TAPI project.
"We were initially interested to join the TAPI considering the country's perennial gas crisis, to open up a new window for getting gas from outside the country and was hoping that it would be economically viable," said the energy ministry official.
The country is facing an acute natural gas shortage, which is hampering industrial output, electricity generation and the overall economy.
Country's natural gas production is now hovering around 2,210 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) compared to demand of over 2,700 mmcfd.
Officials said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is coordinating implementation of the TAPI gas pipeline project to carry Caspian Sea natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India.
The original project started on March 15, 1995 when a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the governments of Turkmenistan and Pakistan for a pipeline project was signed.
Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have formally agreed to build the 1,680 km TAPI pipeline to supply around 33 billion cubic meter per year of Turkmenistan natural gas to South Asia.
The diameter of TAPI pipeline is 56 inches.
The initial capacity will be 27 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year of which 2 billion cubic metres will be provided to Afghanistan and 12.5 billion cubic metres to Pakistan and India each.
Later, the capacity will increase to 33 billion cubic metres.
The $7.8 billion project is expected to come online in 2016-2017.
Published : Sunday, 03 February 2013
Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
M Azizur Rahman
The government has backtracked from its plan to join the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project as it is not commercially viable, a top energy ministry official said Saturday.
Importing natural gas from the distant Central Asia's Turkmenistan to South Asia's Bangladesh through three separate countries will not be feasible as the price of gas will be higher, he said.
State-owned Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL) recently carried out a feasibility study on the country's inclusion with the TAPI project and found it not-viable, said the official of the Energy Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
The GTCL carried out the study following instruction from the energy ministry.
"We have seen that Bangladesh's inclusion with TAPI will not be economically viable due to the long distance from the source of gas in that country," GTCL Managing Director Md Aminur Rahman told the FE Saturday.
Ashgabat of Turkmenistan is around 3,417 kms (2,123 miles) from Dhaka and the distance of TAPI's last location -- New Delhi -- is around 1,424 kms (884 miles) away.
If we get connected with TAPI project we will have to pay huge amount of money as wheeling charge to the gas carrying countries -- Afghanistan, Pakistan and India -- apart from the Turkmenistan gas price," Aminur Rahman said.
Besides, Bangladesh will have to construct gas transmission pipeline of around 1,424 kms to carry the gas to TAPI's last point to Bangladesh, said another GTCL official.
It would increase the Turkmenistan gas price substantially for Bangladesh, said the official.
Bangladesh in May 2012 had sent an initial proposal to the TAPI steering committee expressing its interest to be part of the TAPI gas pipeline to ensure an alternative source of energy to meet its growing fuel demand.
The TAPI steering committee had accepted the proposal from Bangladesh and asked for submission a more detailed plan.
Bangladesh was asked to specify technical details such as expected gas off-take volumes, gas quality, delivery pressure and a tentative date to start to ensure its connectivity with the TAPI project.
Instead of submitting the detailed plan for inclusion with the TAPI to the steering committee, the government had sought details about the quantity of available gas for Bangladesh and how long it would be available, its pressure and prices.
Bangladesh also sought whether any funding arrangement would be available for Bangladesh to make up for the cost of joining the mega gas pipeline project before pulling out of the TAPI project.
"We were initially interested to join the TAPI considering the country's perennial gas crisis, to open up a new window for getting gas from outside the country and was hoping that it would be economically viable," said the energy ministry official.
The country is facing an acute natural gas shortage, which is hampering industrial output, electricity generation and the overall economy.
Country's natural gas production is now hovering around 2,210 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) compared to demand of over 2,700 mmcfd.
Officials said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is coordinating implementation of the TAPI gas pipeline project to carry Caspian Sea natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India.
The original project started on March 15, 1995 when a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the governments of Turkmenistan and Pakistan for a pipeline project was signed.
Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have formally agreed to build the 1,680 km TAPI pipeline to supply around 33 billion cubic meter per year of Turkmenistan natural gas to South Asia.
The diameter of TAPI pipeline is 56 inches.
The initial capacity will be 27 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year of which 2 billion cubic metres will be provided to Afghanistan and 12.5 billion cubic metres to Pakistan and India each.
Later, the capacity will increase to 33 billion cubic metres.
The $7.8 billion project is expected to come online in 2016-2017.
