Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline - is a trunk gas pipeline, which is supposed to stretch along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India route, from the Galkynysh field in southern Turkmenistan to Fazilka town in India.
Back in 2007, G. Berdimuhamedov spoke with the heads of Pakistan and Afghanistan about the practical implementation of the Trans-Afghan gas pipeline project.
Back in 2007, G. Berdimuhamedov spoke with the heads of Pakistan and Afghanistan about the practical implementation of the Trans-Afghan gas pipeline project.
In January 2013, India and Turkmenistan agreed to think about the implementation of the project for the construction of the TAPI.
A special-purpose consortium known as the TAPI Pipeline Company (TPCL) was incorporated in November 2014 by:
- Turkmengaz (majority stakeholder with 85% interest)
- Afghan Gas Enterprise (5%)
- Inter State Gas Systems (5%)
- GAIL (5%)
Following an agreement between Afghanistan, India and Pakistan, gas would be purchased from Turkmenistan and then transported to the western and southern territories of Afghanistan, as well as central Pakistan and northwestern parts of India.
In December 2017, G. Berdymukhamedov for the first time invited Russia to participate in the project by calling V. Putin.
The 1814-km pipeline has been designed for a 30-year period and is expected to supply about 33 billion m3 (bcm)/ year of gas from Turkmenistan’s giant Galkynysh gas field through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar, as well as the Pakistani cities Quetta and Multan.
The pipeline ends at the Indian city of Fazilka, located near its border with Pakistan.
5 bcm out of the entire volume will be absorbed by Afghanistan, while Pakistan and India will receive 14 bcm each.
The TAPI pipeline is being constructed in 2 phases:
- A free flow pipeline with a capacity of delivering approximately 11 bcm/year will be developed in the 1st phase, with 2 compressor stations in Turkmenistan.
- The 2nd phase will add 6 compressor stations in the Afghanistan and Pakistan regions to increase the delivery capacity to approximately 33 bcm/year.
On its part, Afghanistan claimed it began preparation in early 2018, but said work on the pipeline has not yet begun due to bureaucratic difficulties.
Afghan government officials are convinced that some documents required for the inauguration of the project have not been approved, including those related to land acquisition.
Officials from the TAPI Pipeline company said that construction of the Afghan section would begin in early 2021 upon the completion of land acquisition.
Meanwhile, India has already completed its part of the project.
Turkmenistan, on its part, has laid and welded 206.9 km out of 214 km of pipe within its section of TAPI as of March 2020.
