TAPI gas Pipe line
The 1,680 km pipeline to become operational by 2018
In a step that is likely to boost peace and give new shape to regional energy cooperation, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, on Wednesday, inked the historic gas sale purchase agreement (GSPA) for the $7.6-billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, often touted as the peace pipeline.
Turkmenistan, which holds more than 4 per cent of the world's natural gas reserves, signed agreements to sell gas to India and Pakistan through the 1,680 km pipeline at the Caspian Sea resort of Avaza in Turkmenistan, according to a statement issued here. For India, the agreement was signed by GAIL (India) Chairman B. C. Tirpathi in the presence of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Jaipal Reddy who described the signing of the GSPA as “no ordinary event” and a triumph of multilateralism, regional cooperation and economic integration.
The TAPI pipeline will have a capacity to carry 90 million metric standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) of gas for a 30-year period and is likely to become operational by 2018. India and Pakistan would get 38 mmscmd each, while the remaining 14 mmscmd will be supplied to Afghanistan.
Besides Mr. Reddy, the GSPA, signed by national oil companies of the four nations, was witnessed by Turkmenistan Oil Minister, B. Nedirov, Pakistan's Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain and Afghanistan's Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani.
“Without a doubt, the economic benefits of the TAPI gas pipeline will be immense for our energy-starved economies. The flow of natural gas will bring in industrial and economic development in our countries,”
OBSTACLES
1)Regional instability, especially in the AF-PAK region continues to haunt the pipeline. The planned route of the 1800 km pipeline will pass through 735 km of southern and western Afghanistan, regions which are hotbeds of terrorism. Moreover with the proposed withdrawal of NATO (especially US) forces from Afghanistan, the ability of Afghanistan to maintain its security comes into question.
2)The pipeline will also pass through Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan Province, a region suffering from separatist and sectarian violence for the past 9 years. Moreover poorly guarded oil/gas pipelines in the region have been favourite targets of ethnic Baluch separatists fighting the Pakistan army.
3)Any unexpected rupture in Indo-Pakistan relationships can put the TAPI project into jeopardy
4)A lot of money is needed to finance this project. The cost of the project is estimated to be 12 billion Dollars. Asian Development Bank has already provided a few million Dollars as technical assistance, however more money is required to finance this costly project, which is difficult to get as foreign investors (MNCs, oil companies) are wary of investing in the AF-PAK region.
The 1,680 km pipeline to become operational by 2018
In a step that is likely to boost peace and give new shape to regional energy cooperation, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, on Wednesday, inked the historic gas sale purchase agreement (GSPA) for the $7.6-billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, often touted as the peace pipeline.
Turkmenistan, which holds more than 4 per cent of the world's natural gas reserves, signed agreements to sell gas to India and Pakistan through the 1,680 km pipeline at the Caspian Sea resort of Avaza in Turkmenistan, according to a statement issued here. For India, the agreement was signed by GAIL (India) Chairman B. C. Tirpathi in the presence of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Jaipal Reddy who described the signing of the GSPA as “no ordinary event” and a triumph of multilateralism, regional cooperation and economic integration.
The TAPI pipeline will have a capacity to carry 90 million metric standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) of gas for a 30-year period and is likely to become operational by 2018. India and Pakistan would get 38 mmscmd each, while the remaining 14 mmscmd will be supplied to Afghanistan.
Besides Mr. Reddy, the GSPA, signed by national oil companies of the four nations, was witnessed by Turkmenistan Oil Minister, B. Nedirov, Pakistan's Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain and Afghanistan's Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani.
“Without a doubt, the economic benefits of the TAPI gas pipeline will be immense for our energy-starved economies. The flow of natural gas will bring in industrial and economic development in our countries,”
OBSTACLES
1)Regional instability, especially in the AF-PAK region continues to haunt the pipeline. The planned route of the 1800 km pipeline will pass through 735 km of southern and western Afghanistan, regions which are hotbeds of terrorism. Moreover with the proposed withdrawal of NATO (especially US) forces from Afghanistan, the ability of Afghanistan to maintain its security comes into question.
2)The pipeline will also pass through Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan Province, a region suffering from separatist and sectarian violence for the past 9 years. Moreover poorly guarded oil/gas pipelines in the region have been favourite targets of ethnic Baluch separatists fighting the Pakistan army.
3)Any unexpected rupture in Indo-Pakistan relationships can put the TAPI project into jeopardy
4)A lot of money is needed to finance this project. The cost of the project is estimated to be 12 billion Dollars. Asian Development Bank has already provided a few million Dollars as technical assistance, however more money is required to finance this costly project, which is difficult to get as foreign investors (MNCs, oil companies) are wary of investing in the AF-PAK region.