Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India to sign gas pipeline deal

[Marxist]

Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India are scheduled to sign a landmark agreement for a multi-billion gas pipeline project in Ashgabat on September 20, Pakistan's petroleum ministry said today.

The pact will be signed by the petroleum ministers of the four countries at Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.

Petroleum and natural resources minister Syed Naveed Qamar will represent Pakistan at the signing ceremony of the Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA) for the TAPI gas pipeline, a statement issued by the ministry said.

The TAPI project is meant to bring natural gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India via Afghanistan.

The heads of state of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan signed an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) for joint oil and gas pipeline projects between the three countries in 2002.

India joined the project in 2008 and a revised GPFA was initialled for the induction of India, thus changing the name of the project from TAP to TAPI.

An ADB sponsored pre-feasibility study, conducted in 2004, indicated that the 1680-km pipeline project was economically and financially viable.

It estimated the cost at $3.3 billion though the figure was revised to $7.6 billion in 2008. The pipeline would be designed to carry 3.2 BCFD gas from Turkmenistan, delivering 0.5 BCFD to Afghanistan and 1.35 BCFD each to Pakistan and India.

The proposed signing of the GPFA would be a landmark achievement as the project has seen no progress since 2008, Pakistan's petroleum ministry said.

President Asif Ali Zardari had reactivated the project during a recent telephone discussion with his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

"Zardari has directed Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, to expedite concluding various agreements with the target of finalising Gas Sales Purchase Agreement by the end of this year or early next year," the statement said.

After the signing of the GPFA in Ashgabad next week, the countries plan to convene rigorous rounds of negotiations to finalise the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement during a proposed TAPI summit in Ashgabad.

"The renewed attention to this project from the present government would lead to significantly improving energy availability for Pakistan and help resolve the energy crisis," the petroleum ministry said.

Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India to sign gas pipeline deal - India - DNA

 

[xenia]

we will have to wait till WOT finishes n "peace" comes in Afghanistan!

 

[Marxist]

New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) In a significant development, India today signed initial agreements for a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan and Pakistan, a project that US has been backing as an alternative to a line from Iran.
The four nations initialed the Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA) and heads of agreements for the proposed Gas Sales Purchase Agreement for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, in Turkmenistan''s capital Ashgabat.
"We have today initialed two important agreements for the implementation of the TAPI gas pipeline project," Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada, who led the Indian delegation at the signing, told PTI from Ashgabat.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB)-backed 1,680-km long pipeline would supply the energy hungry nation 38 million standard cubic meters per day of gas.
"The pipeline is important for us in meeting our energy needs but security concerns particularly in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan will have to be addressed satisfactorily," Prasada said.
Today''s signing will be followed by signing of Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement, which will outline the terms on which the Central Asian nation will sell gas, and agreements providing state support by the four nations in the project.
"We want security issues to be addressed before these agreements are signed," he said. "Afghanistan and Pakistan will make presentations (at the next Steering Committeee meeting of TAPI) on how they propose to secure the pipeline."
An overwhelming 735-km of the proposed pipeline will pass through the volatile Afghanisatan and another 800-km through Pakistan, and New Delhi is concerned that anti-India elements in both these nations may hold the pipeline ransom to hurt the nation''s economic interest.
The US is, however, backing this pipeline as a rival to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. Washington discourages countries from dealing with Iran, a nation it accuses of harbouring nuclear weapon ambitions.
India had in April 2008 joined the TAPI project and the four partner countries today signed two important documents.
"The Cabinet has already given in-principle approval to the GPFA. However, the final signing would be done only after the Cabinet approves this document," Prasada said.
Prasada stressed that to make this project successful, all stakeholders should recognize that the transit fee for the gas through various countries be kept at minimum, the security issues be properly addressed with absolute clarity on institutional mechanism for this, and before taking this project further, the pricing & other GSPA issues be resolved to the full satisfaction of all partner countries.
The signing was attended by Turkmenistan Deputy Prime Minister Baymyrat Hojamuhammedov, Afghanistan''s Mining Minister Wahidullah Shahrani and Pakistan''s Petroleum and Natural Resoruces Minister Naveed Qamar.

India inks framework pact for TAPI gas pipeline -  National News ? News ? MSN India

 

[Nahraf]

This pipeline should be also be built but it must not in any hinder development schedule of of Iran-Pakistan pipeline. Our friendship with Iran is more important than US or India.

 

[EjazR]

UPDATE 2-TAPI gas pipeline project inked-Pakistan official | Energy & Oil | Reuters

By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India on Monday signed the framework of an agreement to construct a gigantic pipeline pumping natural gas to South Asia, a Pakistani official said.

The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, valued at more than $3 billion, has long been discussed by governments and energy companies but instability in Afghanistan has so far made its construction impossible.

For Pakistan, the project could help avert a growing energy crisis already causing electricity shortages that have brought heavy criticism to a government now under enormous pressure from floods that have caused billions of dollars in damages.

Turkmenistan, holder of the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves, is keen to revive plans to build the TAPI pipeline through Afghanistan to the markets of Pakistan and India.

The former Soviet state is looking to diversify energy sales from its traditional market, Russia, and is courting investors from the West, China and other Asian countries.

"The petroleum ministers of the four countries have initialled the Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement in Ashgabad today," a Pakistani Petroleum Ministry spokesman told Reuters.

SALES AGREEMENT In March, Pakistan signed a deal with Iran paving the way for construction of a much-delayed $7.6 billion pipeline pumping Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.

The United States has tried to discourage India and Pakistan from any deal with Iran because of Tehran's suspected ambitions to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies any such ambitions.

The Petroleum Ministry spokesman said the final TAPI agreement would be signed in the next meeting of the four countries after the formal approval of their governments.

The ministers also initialled a gas sales and purchase agreement, the final version of which will be signed in December.

The planned pipeline would have initial capacity for 33 billion cubic metres a year and would run for nearly 2,000 km (1,250 miles), including 735 km across Afghanistan and another 800 km through Pakistan.

Turkmenistan has previously estimated the cost of the project at $3.3 billion. Natural gas to fill the pipeline could be drawn from the massive South Iolotan deposit, currently under development, and the existing Dovletabad field.

 

[KS]

I dont get this logic - the reason we left IPI was because it passed through Pakistabn and there was no delivery guarentee from Iran that gas will reach our borders.

Now we sign(???) an agreement to get gas not only through Pakistan but also thru Afghanistan. Who will guarentee the safety of the pipelines.??

I just dont get it.

 

[Marxist]

I dont get this logic - the reason we left IPI was because it passed through Pakistabn and there was no delivery guarentee from Iran that gas will reach our borders.

Now we sign(???) an agreement to get gas not only through Pakistan but also thru Afghanistan. Who will guarentee the safety of the pipelines.??

I just dont get it.

US Factor,they are backing this deal as a rival to the I-P-I

 

[SpArK]

Indian govt officials discuss Turkmen gas pipeline pricing​

Aim is to resolve security and fee issues by end-December.

After signing of various heads of agreement for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) gas pipeline in September, India has begun negotiating the pricing and security issues with the other three nations.

A delegation led by a joint secretary from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, to discuss these.

"India is more keen on the Tapi pipeline than the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline, where nothing has moved since the past two years due to opposition from the US," said an official.

Addressing India’s concern on Tapi will be significant for all the partners, since it will consume more than a third of the gas to be transported by the $7.6-billion pipeline. India wishes to see resolution of issues related to security, pricing and transit fee by December.

"Ensuring safety of the pipeline will be the responsibility of member countries, which are also the user countries in this case. Afghanistan has given a presentation on security in the meeting held last week. Pakistan is also expected to give a presentation on security, probably in the next meeting," Jitin Prasada, minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, had told Business Standard on his return from Turkmenistan in September.

Through the Tapi transnational pipeline, India is expected to get 38 million standard cubic metres a day (mscmd) of natural gas from Turkmenistan. Earlier, a formula had been proposed where the four nations would work towards finalising a multiple linked to the Japanese Crude Cocktail.

Turkmenistan is keen to close a deal for the purchase of gas by December and begin work on the pipeline by 2014. Of the 90 mscmd of gas to be pushed from the Dauletabad field in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan would consume 14 mscmd, while 38 mscmd each would be taken by India and Pakistan.

IPI has faced stiff opposition from the US since Iran is under sanctions from the United Nations for its nuclear programme. Tapi, on the other hand, has backing from the Asian Development Bank.


Indian govt officials discuss Turkmen gas pipeline pricing

 

[DV RULES]

Its good to deal but confusion in whole story.