Pakistan, Turkmenistan to Sign TAPI Gas Purchase Deal This Month

Pakistan is likely to sign the gas sales purchase agreement with Turkmenistan on April 18 for the import of gas under $7.6 billion TAPI gas line project, the News reported. The cost of the imported gas has been finalised at 69% of crude oil parity.

India has already finalised GSPA with Turkmenistan. Every buyer country has to ink deal with Turkmenistan on a bilateral basis.

Pakistan delegation headed by federal minister for petroleum and natural resources would visit Ashkhabad on April 17-18 to finally ink the deal.

The pipeline is likely to bring gas to Pakistan by December 2016, depending on a credible security apparatus in Afghanistan.

Under the proposed project, the 1,640 kms long TAPI gas pipeline will bring 3.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (bcfd) from Turkmenistan’s gas fields to Multan in central Pakistan and end in the northwest Indian town of Fazilka. Out of this, Pakistan will get 1.365 billion cubic feet of gas per day, India 1.365 bfcd and Afghanistan 0.5 bcfd. Afghanistan has surrendered its share that will now be equally divided between Pakistan and India.