TAPI pipeline a step closer as Pradhan leaves for Turkmenistan

Taking another step towards realising the ambitious TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) natural gas pipeline project, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Tuesday left for Turkmenistan to attend TAPI's 19th steering committee meeting, an official release said here.

Besides attending the TAPI meeting Pradhan is slated to discuss bilateral oil and gas cooperation issues with the Turkmenistan government, the statement added.

Last week, state-run gas utility GAIL India, along with state gas companies of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan set up a company that will build, own and operate the 1,800-kilometer gas pipeline across the four countries. The national companies will own equal stake in the TAPI Pipeline Co.

The company has been incorporated as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in the Isle of Man, a British Crown dependency in the Irish sea.

The TAPI pipeline will export up to 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas per annum from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India over a period of 30 years. It will enable landlocked Turkmenistan, which has the world's fourth largest proven gas reserves, to expand its gas export market to the southeast.

The pipeline is expected to carry 90 million metric standard cubic metres of gas daily, of which India and Pakistan would get 38 mmscmd each. Afghanistan's share would be 14 mmscmd but the country has indicated that it may take only 1.5-4 mmscmd, which will result in the balance being shared equally by India and Pakistan.