Pakistan, Turkmenistan to Discuss TAPI Project

Pakistan and Turkmenistan will discuss issue related to TAPI gas pipeline project next week when, Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune reported earlier this week.

The topic will come up during Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit Turkmenistan on May 20.

Last year, gas companies of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India established a company that will build, own and operate the planned 1,800-kilometer TAPI natural gas pipeline. The pipeline will export up to 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India over 30 years.

The above four nations are currently in negotiations for the award of a multibillion-dollar contract to French energy giant Total as well as a Chinese and a Russian firm, Express Tribune reported.

Pakistan wants work on the project to start as swiftly as possible as the country wants to augment gas supplies in the economy. The country has been facing severe shortage of natural gas which has affected power generation and other industrial activities.