Turkmenistan will begin construction of a pipeline to stream natural gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in 2017, announced Kakageldi Abdyllayew, acting minister of Turkmenistan’s oil and gas industry. Named for each of the four participating countries, the TAPI pipeline is expected to provide critical energy resources and fuel economic growth for each participant.
The project, backed by the Asian Development Bank, has been in development since the mid-1990s. But security concerns over its route through Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan stalled the pipeline. When the Taliban crumbled in 2001, however, leaders began to revive the $7.6-billion project. In 2008, the four nations signed the Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement.
Once under way, the pipeline will carry 33 billion cubic meters (43 billion cubic yards) of gas per year from Turkmenistan’s Daulatabad natural gas field. Countries along the route can keep the gas for their own domestic use or collect transit fees on natural gas that moves through their nation en route to other customers. Afghanistan alone expects to collect about $300 million in fees annually.
About 5,000 to 7,000 local security forces will be employed to protect the route, explained Afghan Mines and Industry Minister Wahidullah Shahrani. He expects the project to gain community support because the pipeline brings jobs, along with a power source. It will ultimately play a large role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Turkmenistan has the fourth-largest natural gas reserves in the world, holding about 4.3 percent of the global supply, according to the June 2011 “BP Statistical Review of World Energy.” Saudi Arabia has nearly the same amount. Others in the region with significant natural gas resources include Qatar with 13.5 percent, the United Arab Emirates (3.2 percent), Iraq (1.7 percent) and Egypt (1.2 percent).
Currently, Turkmenistan also exports natural gas to Russia and China. The TAPI pipeline will provide the former Soviet state with an alternative way to profit from its supply and strengthen its economy. The TAPI pipeline will also help Pakistan and India address growing energy gaps.