The US supports the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project. The construction will be launched on December 13, 2015, the Turkmen Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources said with reference to US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia Daniel Rosenblum.
Rosenblum delivered speech at the Oil and Gas Conference in Ashgabat.
“The United Stated government welcomes the commitment that all four TAPI countries have made to the project,” he said. “This project, if realized, would further diversify Turkmenistan’s energy market options, provide revenue and jobs for Afghanistan at a critical time in its economic development, and bring clean fuel to the growing economies of Pakistan and India, which have large demands for natural gas.”
The main document for the TAPI – the Ashgabat Interstate Agreement – was signed in 2010 by the party states to start the realization of the project.
The length of the pipe can reach 1,735 kilometers. The pipeline’s capacity will be 33 billion cubic meters a year.
The pipeline is to run from Galkynysh – the largest gas field in Turkmenistan – the through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar, and finally reach the Fazilka township located near the India-Pakistan border.
The project’s estimated cost is up to $10 billion.
