Framework agreement to be signed on 20th

ISLAMABAD: The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA) will be signed in Ashgabad, Turkmenistan on Monday, according to a press release issued by the ministry of petroleum and natural resources.

Petroleum Minister Naveed Qamar left for Ashgabad on Friday and will sign the agreement along with his counterparts from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and India on September 20.

The project, stalled since 2008, has seen a renewed interest after a telephonic discussion between President Asif Ali Zardari and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov earlier this year.

After the signing of GPFA in Ashgabad next week, the parties are planning to convene rigorous rounds of negotiations to finalise the gas sale and purchase agreement during a TAPI summit in Ashgabad by the end of this year, according to the press release.

The $7.6 billion, 1,680km gas pipeline will carry 3.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas from Turkmenistan, delivering 0.5 bcfd to Afghanistan and 1.35 bcfd each to Pakistan and India. Pakistan would be able to produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity using this gas.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2010.