Work on TAPI successfully continues: Turkmen president
By Aynur Jafarova
Currently an effective work is being carried out for implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said on December 14.
"Turkmenistan, which enjoys huge oil and gas reserves, is known as the world's largest energy resources producer," Berdymukhamedov's message to the event participants of the Oil and Gas Industry Workers, Energy Engineers and Geologists Day said.
The message noted Turkmenistan is aimed at enhancing international cooperation, increasing the volume of hydrocarbon production and creation of a multi-vector system for delivery of energy to global markets.
President Berdymukhamedov also said Turkmenistan has implemented several major projects jointly with foreign partners. These projects also include Turkmenistan-China and Turkmenistan-Iran gas pipelines.
"In the context of ever-increasing energy demands in global markets it would be appropriate to highlight the great economic and political importance of the Galkynysh gas field, thanks to which Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world for natural gas reserves," he noted.
Turkmenistan's giant Galkynysh field located in Turkmenistan's Mary province is considered the second largest deposit in the world, with reserves of 26.2 trillion cubic meters. Thanks to the opening of Galkynysh gas field the total proven reserves and potential hydrocarbon resources of Turkmenistan have significantly increased.
The TAPI pipeline project with design capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year will extend from Galkynysh field in Turkmenistan through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar to the final point, a settlement on the Pakistani-Indian border.
The basic document for the promotion of the TAPI project is the Ashgabat intergovernmental agreement on the start of actual implementation of the TAPI project signed in late 2010 by the four participating countries.
On November 20 Asian Development Bank (ADB), Turkmengas state concern, Afghanistan's Gas Corporation, Pakistani Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited Corporation and Gail (India) Limited Companya signed a service agreement on TAPI.
According to experts, TAPI is not only a regional project envisaging the transportation of Turkmen gas, but also a global project. They believe that the implementation of the project will strengthen the independence of Turkmenistan and its gas supplies to world markets will increase significantly.
Furthermore, observers say that the main benefit of the project is an opportunity to contribute to the stabilization of Afghanistan, and its implementation could contribute to the rehabilitation process in the post-war country as it will create jobs and provide Afghanistan with guaranteed income from transit.