Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline

[Nahraf]

Ashgabat, Kabul sign TAPI agreement - UPI.com


Ashgabat, Kabul sign TAPI agreement
Published: Aug. 31, 2010 at 9:18 AM

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Delegates from Turkmenistan and Afghanistan met in Kabul to sign an agreement on a natural gas pipeline to Pakistan and India, the Turkmen government said.

A 1,043-mile pipeline would move gas from the Dauletabad gas field in Turkmenistan to consumers in Pakistan and India after transiting Afghanistan. Turkmenistan holds more than 40 trillion cubic feet of gas in its Dauletabad gas field.

Ashgabat said a delegation from the Turkmen government met with leaders in Kabul to sign the agreement on the multinational pipeline project, the Trend news agency reports.

Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal, the Afghan economic minister, said his country has "great interest" in cooperating with Ashgabat on the project's construction. Both sides agreed the project would contribute to stability in war-torn Afghanistan with its economic benefits.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov had said Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed to discuss the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's 65th session scheduled for September at U.N. headquarters in New York.

The Turkmen delegation heads next to Islamabad and New Delhi to discuss the project.

The Asian Development Bank financed a feasibility study for TAPI in 2005 despite the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

 

[Nahraf]

Afghanistan, Turkmenistan renew commitment to building natural gas pipeline to Pakistan, India | Markets | Market News | Canadian Business Online

Afghanistan, Turkmenistan renew commitment to building natural gas pipeline to Pakistan, India

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan and Turkmenistan say they remain committed to building a long-delayed pipeline to pump natural gas south to Pakistan and India, in spite of the ongoing Taliban insurgency.

Ministers from the two countries signed an agreement in Kabul calling for officials from all four countries to hammer out remaining details of the project before a meeting of the Afghan and Turkmen leaders at the United Nations next month, the Afghan Ministry of Mines said in a statement issued Tuesday.

They also pledged to carry out geological studies along their border and conduct preparatory work on extending a rail line from the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif to the Turkmenistan border, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) away, the statement said.

The agreement predicted a final pact among the four nations could be signed during a meeting in the Turkmen capital in September, though the multibillion dollar project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, has already blown several such deadlines.

In early August, Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov set a year-end deadline for the government to conclude a sale agreement for gas to be sold through the planned pipeline. Turkmenistan's gas already flows through pipelines to Iran, China and Russia.

Revived after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, work on the pipeline's Turkmen section was due to have begun in 2006 but doubts have lingered over its feasibility due to the ongoing insurgency in Afghanistan. Persistent conflict in the region has also weakened the energy route's prospects.

The more than 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) pipeline would run from Turkmenistan's Dauletabad field to the Indian border village of Fazilka. The cost of construction has been estimated at $3.3 billion with annual supply capacity slated to reach 1,165 billion cubic feet (33 billion cubic meters) of gas.

 

[EjazR]

Well with the US pushing this from the sidelines, I think the TAPI pipeline will be functional before the IPI .

 

[nomi007]

only possible when peace be in Afghanistan

 

[WAQAS119]

Well with the US pushing this from the sidelines, I think the TAPI pipeline will be functional before the IPI .

TAPI? IPI? Do you think India will join these projects?

 

[Nahraf]

Well with the US pushing this from the sidelines

Why should US decide which pipeline should be built to Pakistan ? If Iran offers better deal then Pakistan should have Iran-Pakistan pipeline. US is not offering nuclear deal to Pakistan and opposing Pakistan-China nuclear deal. Offering India more advance weapons then Pakistan. We should we even listen to US on energy issue ? We will build both pipelines and preferably the one which offers us better deal.

 

[EjazR]

TAPI? IPI? Do you think India will join these projects?

Well only with India joining both the projects would the project be econimically feasible. Its just plain old business.

India has already signed bilateral agreements with Pakistan Afghanistan and Turkmenistan on this.

This pipeline has been in the planning stage since the 80s. So its not a new thing.

 

[EjazR]

Why should US decide which pipeline should be built to Pakistan ? If Iran offers better deal then Pakistan should have Iran-Pakistan pipeline. US is not offering nuclear deal to Pakistan and opposing Pakistan-China nuclear deal. Offering India more advance weapons then Pakistan. We should we even listen to US on energy issue ? We will build both pipelines and preferably the one which offers us better deal.

Well to be frank its the leadership in Pakistan and not just the "democratic" one. US is not leaving C.Asia and Afghanistan and TAPI is one way to help Afghanistan stand on its feet. IPI does not benefit Afghanistan but Iran. So although both India and Pakistan might want it, US will try to scuttle that and make TAPI appear more attractive to both.

 

[Nahraf]

Well to be frank its the leadership in Pakistan and not just the "democratic" one. US is not leaving C.Asia and Afghanistan and TAPI is one way to help Afghanistan stand on its feet. IPI does not benefit Afghanistan but Iran. So although both India and Pakistan might want it, US will try to scuttle that and make TAPI appear more attractive to both.

The Iran-Pakistan looks more and more attractive for Pakistan. May be we should oppose the pipeline that US will prefers to be built !