WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 23: Government inked only one-page 'intention': Tapi project GSPA not yet signed

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reportedly inked one-paper 'intention' of signing Gas Sale Purchase Agreement (GSPA) for Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, and not the agreement, as was conveyed to the media, sources told Business Recorder here on Tuesday.
Earlier reports had suggested that the agreement on gas sales purchase relating to the gas pipeline project was inked by the Managing Director of Inter-State Gas System, Mubeen Saulat, and Chairman of Turkmenistan Gas Trade Concern Amanali Hanalyev. The project aims at bringing natural gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Since mid-2010, the momentum of project negotiations picked up and, in December 2010, Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA), Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA) and Heads of Agreement (HOA) for TAPI, GSPA were signed in Turkmenistan. The TAPI parties also held a number of extensive rounds of negotiations on Gas Sale Purchase Agreement (GSPA) and have been able to finalise the GSPA.
Initially, he Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources had planned to sign GSPA during the visit of Turkmenistan President to Pakistan on November 14-15, 2011. Sources said that Pakistan-Turkmenistan bilateral GSPA negotiations have concluded and GSPA has been finalised, except for a few minor drafting changes proposed to be undertaken prior to the signing ceremony. They said that when the issue was placed in the ECC meeting on November 11, 2011, it was stated that Turkmen authorities were vehemently insisting to ensure signing of the agreement during the visit of their President to Pakistan.
On the pricing issue, the ECC was informed that no country discloses the price of gas negotiated/agreed with other countries. The ECC was, however, assured that the price of the gas, to be imported from Turkmenistan, would be lower than the gas to be imported from Iran.
It was also observed that the proposed GSPA was not placed before the ECC. Besides, pricing of the imported gas was not clear. As such, it would not be advisable to sign the proposed GSPA in haste. However, a single-page document, containing 'intention' of Pakistan, may be signed during the visit of the Turkmen President, and the proposed GSPA could be annexed to that one-page document.
After detailed discussion, the ECC decided that instead of signing the GSPA at the present stage, a single-page document, containing 'intention' of both the government of Pakistan and the government of Turkmenistan may be signed during the visit of the Turkmen President, and the draft of GSPA be annexed to that one-page document for subsequent approval of the government.
The ECC also constituted a committee comprising Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources (Convener), Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Water Resources, Cabinet Secretary, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and Finance Secretary, as its members, which had drafted the proposed one-page document, signed during the visit of the Turkmen President.