September 07, 2008

ADB may fund revival of TAP pipeline project

Dawn reported that Asian Development Bank is regrouping officials of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the third week of April 2008 to revive the Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan gas pipeline project in view of the energy shortage in the region.

The TAP pipeline of 56 inch diameter needs at least 30 billion cubic meter of gas per year from Turkmenistan to reach Pakistan via Afghanistan.

The sources said that an earlier steering committee meeting of the TAP project did not take place after Turkmenistan signed an agreement with Russia’s gas giant Gazprom to increase gas supplies to Europe at enhanced rates.

They said that the security situation in Afghanistan and relations between Pakistan and India needed to be improved and fuel subsidies in the two countries would have to be phased out. Above all, the long term competitive advantage of the TAP over the option of LNG has to be determined.