Turkmenistan, Afghanistan mull TAPI project realization
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai discussed the practical implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline construction project, the Turkmen government reported.
The presidents had a telephone conversation upon the initiative of the Afghan side.
The project, besides the direct economic benefit for the participating countries, will give an opportunity to resolve important social problems, in particular, through creating 1,000 new jobs.
Previously, Ashgabat stressed that the TAPI construction must begin in 2015. A basic document for the TAPI promotion is Ashgabat's interstate agreement of the member-states on the beginning of the practical implementation of this project signed in 2010.
The TAPI design capacity is up to 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
TAPI gas pipeline's total length will be 1,735 kilometers. Some 200 kilometres of the pipeline will run through Turkmenistan, 735 kilometres - through Afghanistan, and 800 kilometres - through Pakistan up to the Fazilka settlement on the Indian border.
Galkynysh - the largest field in Turkmenistan can serve as a raw material source for TAPI. At this stage, the formation of an international consortium for TAPI project is underway.