ISLAMABAD: Pakistan takes important decision for the multi billion dollarsTAPI Transnational gas project.
Pakistan is in process of renegotiating gas price with TAPI Project CompanyLimited (TPCL), following which a groundbreaking ceremony would be held for‘Pakistan-Section’ of the multi-billion dollar trans-country gas pipelinein Chaman.
“We are keen to have a new compatible gas price under theTurkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project. Accordingly,renegotiation for the gas price will take place with the TPCL beforegroundbreaking of the pipeline in Pakistan,” a senior official privy topetroleum sector developments told APP Monday.
He expressed confidence that Pakistan would complete phase-I of the projectwithin a period of 30-month after initiating the ground work for laying thepipeline from Chaman to Multan via Quetta and Dera Ismail Khan.
The project is consisted of two phases. In first phase, there will be freeflow of gas in the pipeline which would be completed at an estimated costof $ 5 to 6 billion, while in second phase compressor stations to beinstalled at a cost of $ 1.9 to 2 billion.
Under the project, he said, a 56-inch diameter 1,680 kilometers pipeline,having capacity to flow 3.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) gas, would belaid from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan up to Pak-Indiaborder by the year 2022.
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As per the TAPI agreement, Pakistan and India will be provided 1.325 bcfd(billion cubic feet per day) gas each and Afghanistan will be getting theshare of 0.5 bcfd gas.
Answering a question, the official said the member countries had signed anIntergovernmental Agreement (IGA) and Gas Pipeline framework Agreement(GPFA) on December 11, 2010.
He said Turkmenistan had already completed the construction work on itssection, while Afghanistan also performed groundbreaking of the projectlast year.
He said Pakistan was regularly contributing its committed share to carryout the project activities, which made significant progress during thecurrent year, adding technical consultant of the project had been appointedand the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) completed forPakistan-section of the project.
