Pakistan ready to sign gas agreement with Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, April 6 / Trend, H.Hasanov / Pakistan is ready to sign a gas sales purchase agreement with Turkmenistan as part of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, Pakistani media outlets reported on Friday. 'Pakistan will formally sign the gas sales purchase agreement (GSPA) with Turkmenistan on April 18 for the import of gas within the TAPI gas pipeline project, implementation cost of which is under $7.6 billion', The News reported. Pakistan's delegation led by the federal minister for petroleum and natural resources will visit Ashgabat on April 17-18 to finally sign the deal. Ashgabat has recently reported that an agreement in principle was reached with Pakistan and a gas sale agreement will be signed soon. The base document for the promotion of TAPI project is the Ashgabat interstate agreement of the state parties on the commencement of the practical implementation of the TAPI project signed at the end of 2010. The agenda includes questions of transit payment and security of the project. The designed capacity of the pipeline is for around 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Buyers are the gas companies of Pakistan and India. The project is being promoted by the Asian Development Bank. The resource base, in addition to the Dovletabad field, is the largest in Turkmenistan, namely the Southern Yoloten - Osman ("Galkynysh"). The length of the pipeline may reach 1735 kilometres. At this stage the principle of forming an international consortium is under discussion and the project financing issue is being resolved. Russia has shown interest in this project at a high level and the U.S. and Turkey support its implementation. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az