Ashgabat, Riyadh mull prospects for co-op in gas industry
By Trend
Head of Turkmenistan’s Turkmengas state concern Myrat Archayev during his working visit to Saudi Arabia met with Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of this country Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmen Foreign Ministry.
Energy diplomacy is one of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy directions. The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project will become the next step in the implementation of the energy strategy of Turkmenistan, the report said.
It was earlier reported that Turkmenistan is of investment interest for oil companies of Saudi Arabia, such as Saudi Aramco. The company considered investing in oil and gas production, including countries with access to the Caspian Sea.
In November 2017, the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan concluded an agreement with the Saudi Fund for Development on financing the purchase of gas pipes intended for the construction of the Turkmen section of the TAPI pipeline.
The construction of the pipeline began in December 2015.
The consortium, with the participation of the Asian development Bank (ADB), continues active negotiations with all interested parties. Various options of participation in the project, such as participation in the company's share, project financing, financing through international development banks and with the help of export credit agencies from around the world are being examined.
As the leader of TAPI Pipeline company Limited, Turkmengas State Concern, which has a controlling stake, acts as the main financier and project manager.
The consortium also includes the Afghanistan Gas Corporation, Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited and Indian GAIL.
The total length of the pipeline, with a capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year will be 1,840 kilometers. The fuel will be supplied from the Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan, the second largest in the world.
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