Pakistan re-negotiating Tapi gas price with TPCL

Pakistan is in the process of re-negotiating gas price with Tapi Project Company Limited (TPCL), following which a groundbreaking ceremony would be held for 'Pakistan-Section' of the multi-billion dollar trans-country gas pipeline in Chaman.

"We are keen to have a new compatible gas price under the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project. Accordingly, renegotiation for the gas price will take place with the TPCL before groundbreaking of the pipeline in Pakistan," a senior official privy to petroleum sector developments told APP Monday.

He expressed confidence that Pakistan would complete phase-I of the project within a period of 30-month after initiating the ground work for laying the pipeline from Chaman to Multan via Quetta and Dera Ismail Khan.

The project is consisted of two phases. In the first phase, there will be free flow of gas in the pipeline which would be completed at an estimated cost of $ 5 to 6 billion, while in second phase compressor stations to be installed at a cost of $ 1.9 to 2 billion.

Under the project, he said, a 56-inch diameter 1,680 kilometres pipeline, having capacity to flow 3.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) gas, would be laid from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan up to Pak-India border by the year 2022.

As per the Tapi agreement, Pakistan and India will be provided 1.325 bcfd (billion cubic feet per day) gas each and Afghanistan will be getting the share of 0.5 bcfd gas.

Answering a question, the official said the member countries had signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) and Gas Pipeline framework Agreement (GPFA) on December 11, 2010.

He said Turkmenistan had already completed the construction work on its section, while Afghanistan also performed groundbreaking of the project last year.

He said Pakistan was regularly contributing its committed share to carry out the project activities, which made significant progress during the current year, adding technical consultant of the project had been appointed and the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) completed for Pakistan-section of the project.