TAPI pipeline leader will be named in September

The Turkmenistan President has confirmed that a consortium leader for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline will be chosen in September.

"At this moment negotiations ... are entering the final stage, a consortium leader will be named in September, after which the implementation of the project will begin," President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said during talks with visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The TAPI pipeline will carry natural gas from Turkmenistan, across Afghanistan and on to Pakistan and India. It will transport 33 billion m³/yr of natural gas.

The pipeline is important for Turkmenistan, which relies on gas exports to China.

India comment

In related news, India is not expecting to receive gas from TAPI for four to five years, according to an Indian agency.

"The TAPI pipeline is unlikely to be commissioned by the proposed timeline of FY18, and India will continue to rely on domestic gas and imported LNG," India Ratings said in a note on the TAPI project last week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today has pitched for the early implementation of the project.

A Turkmen government official said construction work could start in December.

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

Sources: Yahoo, Business Standard, Telegraph India

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/project-news/13072015/tapi-pipeline-leader-will-be-named-in-september/