ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Turkmenistan have agreed to expedite work on the TAPI pipeline project, which aims to transport 33 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas annually from the energy-rich Central Asian country through Afghanistan to Pakistan.
The pipeline will extend 1,800 kilometers (1,125 miles) from Galkynysh, the world’s second-largest gas field, to Fazilka in India, near the Pakistan border.
Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik and Turkmenistan’s Foreign Minister Rashid Meredow, who visited Pakistan for two days, announced the decision to speed up the project. “Significant progress has been made through our collaboration on the TAPI Gas Pipeline project, which is crucial for economic integration and energy security,” Malik stated, according to Radio Pakistan.
The CEO of TAPI Pipeline Company highlighted the project’s advancement, attributing it to the interest and support from Pakistan’s Ministry of Petroleum and the Special Investment Facilitation Council.
Rashid Meredow noted that a “roadmap” would be developed to further enhance cooperation between the two countries. The pipeline, with a diameter of 56 inches and a length of 1,680 kilometers, will have the capacity to transport 3.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Pak-India border.
Under the TAPI agreement, Pakistan and India will each receive 1.325 bcfd of gas, while Afghanistan will receive 0.5 bcfd.
In June, Pakistan and Turkmenistan signed a joint implementation plan for the TAPI pipeline in Islamabad, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Turkmenistan’s Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Daler Juma’a, in attendance.
