Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Turkmen Gas Heads South
Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and India have eventually agreed to lay a gas pipeline by 2015. The idea had been talked over since 1990s. The estimated cost nears $8 billion and the capacity is projected to exceed 30 billion cu meters.
Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have sealed a framework agreement to start the construction of Trans-Afghan gas pipeline in 2010; the facility is expected to deliver the gas of Turkmenistan to South Asia. According to the feasibility study, the pipe will be laid from Turkmen Dovletabad via Afghan Kandagar to Pakistan’s Multan and then to India.
The pipeline will have capacity to ensure the annual supplies of 31 billion cu meters to 32 billion cu meters at the pipe’s start in Turkmenistan and of 17 billion cu meters to 18 billion cu meters at its end in India.
The tricky point is that the reserves of Dovletabad field haven’t been confirmed yet and exactly Dovletabad is staked on to form the resource base for the facility. Turkmenistan pledged to provide an independent expert conclusion by the meeting of ministers of four nations, which Delhi hosts in the fall.
The project budget is preliminary estimated at $7.6 billion and the Asian Development Bank has been mentioned as one of the key investors. The launch is slated for 2015.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 28, 2008
|
|
|
