ID :
368918
Wed, 05/27/2015 - 08:45
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What hinders implementation of TAPI project?

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 26 By Elena Kosolapova – Trend: There are several unresolved issues in Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project that cause difficulties in its implementation, Alexey Gromov, head of Energy Department, Institute for Energy and Finance of Russia told Trend. He reminded that TAPI project has been discussed for 10 years, however quite serious problems remain with its security in the transit countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan. “Instability in the transit zone through which the TAPI gas pipeline should run, puts this project’s implementation under threat,” said the expert. Despite the fact that in recent times there have been new discussions that it is necessary to activate this project, because India has serious demands for natural gas, no mutually acceptable solutions for this pipeline’s security have been found, Gromov said. The expert said that if India doesn’t share the transit risks for gas supplies on a par with Turkmenistan, gas export contracts in this direction could turn out to be disadvantageous for Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources previously said that an international tender would be announced soon to choose the leader of TAPI consortium. Currently, the project’s feasibility study is being worked out. The total length of the pipeline is expected to reach 1,735 kilometers of which 200 kilometers will run through Turkmenistan, 735 kilometers – Afghanistan, 800 kilometers – Pakistan and reach Fazilka settlement on the border with India. The annual capacity of the gas pipeline is 33 billion cubic meters. Edited by CN --- Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova Follow us on Twitter @TRENDNewsAgency

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