The
Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (
TAP or
TAPI) is a proposed
natural gasNatural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills...
pipelinePipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquid and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air have also been used....
being developed by the
Asian Development BankThe Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established in 1966 to promote economic and social development in Asian and Pacific countries through loans and technical assistance. It is a multilateral development financial institution owned by 67 members , 48 from the region and 19...
. The pipeline will transport
Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres...
natural gas from
TurkmenistanRepublic of Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic...
through
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
into
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
and then to
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. Proponents of the project see it as a modern continuation of the
Silk RoadThe Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, as well as North and Northeast Africa and Europe...
. The Afghan
governmentA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
is expected to receive 8% of the project's revenue.
The original project started in March 1995 when an inaugural memorandum of understanding between the governments of Turkmenistan and Pakistan for a pipeline project was signed.
The
Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (
TAP or
TAPI) is a proposed
natural gasNatural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills...
pipelinePipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquid and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air have also been used....
being developed by the
Asian Development BankThe Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established in 1966 to promote economic and social development in Asian and Pacific countries through loans and technical assistance. It is a multilateral development financial institution owned by 67 members , 48 from the region and 19...
. The pipeline will transport
Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres...
natural gas from
TurkmenistanRepublic of Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic...
through
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
into
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
and then to
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. Proponents of the project see it as a modern continuation of the
Silk RoadThe Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, as well as North and Northeast Africa and Europe...
. The Afghan
governmentA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
is expected to receive 8% of the project's revenue.
History
The original project started in March 1995 when an inaugural memorandum of understanding between the governments of Turkmenistan and Pakistan for a pipeline project was signed. In August 1996, the
Central Asia Gas Pipeline, Ltd. (CentGas)Central Asia Gas Pipeline, Ltd. was a consortium formed in the 1990s to develop a project to build the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline to link Turkmenistan's abundant proven natural gas reserves with growing markets in Pakistan...
consortium for construction of a pipeline, led by Unocal was formed. On 27 October 1997, CentGas was incorporated in formal signing ceremonies in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan by several international oil companies along with the Government of Turkmenistan. In January 1998, the Taliban, selecting CentGas over Argentinian competitor
Bridas Corporation-Operations:Bridas Corporation has focused in the South America Southern Cone and Central Asia. Its activities includes four principal areas of operations:* exploration and development of oil and gas reserves and the production of oil and gas;...
, signed an agreement that allowed the proposed project to proceed. In June 1998, Russian
GazpromOAO Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Gazprom was created in 1989 when the Ministry of Gas Industry of the Soviet Union transformed itself into a corporation, keeping all its assets intact...
relinquished its 10% stake in the project. Unocal withdrew from the consortium on 8 December 1998.
The new deal on the pipeline was signed on 27 December 2002 by the leaders of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2005, the Asian Development Bank submitted the final version of a feasibility study designed by British company Penspen. Since the United States military overthrew the Taliban government, the project has essentially stalled; construction of the Turkmen part was supposed to start in 2006, but the overall feasibility is questionable since the southern part of the Afghan section runs through territory which continues to be under
de factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact". In law, it is meant to mean "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established"...
Taliban control.
On 24 April 2008, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan signed a framework agreement to buy natural gas from Turkmenistan.
Route
The pipeline will run from the
Dauletabad gas fieldThe Dauletabad Gas Field is the largest natural gas field in Turkmenistan with estimated reserves of 48.7 tcf of gas. However, there are some doubts about the size of actual reserves....
to Afghanistan. From there TAPI will be constructed alongside the highway running from
HeratHerāt , classically called the Aria, is a major city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as Herāt. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan,...
to
KandaharKandahār, also spelled Qandahār, Pashtoکندهار or قندهار is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of 324,800 . It is the capital of Kandahar province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
, and then via
Quetta) is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. It is known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan", due to its diversity in plant and animals wildlife. The city has been a major stronghold along the western frontier of the country. It is situated at an average...
and
Multanis a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province. Multan District has a population of over 3.8 million—according to 1998 census—and the city itself is the sixth largest within the boundaries of Pakistan...
in Pakistan. The final destination of the pipeline will be the Indian town of
FazilkaFazilka is a city and a municipal council in Firozpur district in the state of Punjab, India.- Name and history:The 164 year old historic town of Fazilka in the District Ferozepur, also known as Bangla Fazilka is a city and a municipal council in Firozpur district in the state of Punjab, India.-...
, near the border between Pakistan and India.
Technical features
The pipeline will be in diameter with a working pressure of 100 atm. The initial capacity will be 27 billion cubic meter (bcm) of natural gas annually of which 2 bcm will be provided to Afghanistan and 12.5 bcm to both Pakistan and India. Later the capacity will increase to 33 bcm. Six compressor stations are to be constructed along the pipeline. The pipeline is expected to be operational by 2014.
The cost of the pipeline is estimated cost at
US$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
7.6 billion. The project is to be financed by the Asian Development Bank.
See also
- Zalmay Khalilzad
Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad is a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and president of Khalilzad Associates. He was the United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush. He has been involved with U.S...
- CentGas
Central Asia Gas Pipeline, Ltd. was a consortium formed in the 1990s to develop a project to build the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline to link Turkmenistan's abundant proven natural gas reserves with growing markets in Pakistan...
- Transport in Afghanistan
Landlocked Afghanistan has almost no railways, but the Amu Darya River, which forms part of Afghanistan's border with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, does have barge traffic. Rail lines are limited to a short spur across the Amu Darya between Termez in Uzbekistan and Jeyretan in...
- Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline
The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline is a proposed submarine pipeline between Türkmenbaşy in Turkmenistan, and Baku in Azerbaijan. According to some proposals it will also include a connection between the Tengiz Field in Kazakhstan, and Türkmenbaşy...
- Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline is a long crude oil pipeline from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It connects Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia; and Ceyhan, a port on the south-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey,...
(BTC)
- South Caucasus Pipeline
South Caucasus Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline to transport natural gas from the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to Turkey...
- Afghanistan Oil Pipeline
The Afghanistan Oil Pipeline was a project proposed by several oil companies to transport oil from Azerbaijan and Central Asia through Afghanistan to Pakistan or India.-Central Asian Oil Pipeline Project:...
- Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy in late 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, pulp and paper, and communications companies, with claimed revenues of nearly $101 billion...
's Dabhol Power CompanyThe Dabhol Power Company was a company based in India, formed to manage and operate the Dabhol Power Plant. The Dabhol plant was built through the combined effort of Enron, GE, and Bechtel...