India to Ask for Meeting of TAPI Technical Group

India will ask for a meeting of the technical working group of the TAPI gas pipeline (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) before May 15 even as it has learnt that Turkmenistan is working behind the scenes to bring onboard an international oil major to participate in the $7.6-billion project, Economic Times reported citing a senior government official. 

Progress on the pipeline project has been impeded after road shows late last year in New York, London and Singapore failed to attract oil companies, the newspaper said.

International oil majors are not inclined to participate without a stake in the upstream fields in Turkmenistan, which that country is not prepared to allow. India has pointed out that Turkmenistan has given a Chinese company stake in the gas fields for the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline. "They have told us that they have passed a law after the Chinese were given a stake and this now does not allow them to give a stake to anybody else in the gas fields," the official, who asked not to be named told Economic Times. 

"Our understanding is that they (Turkmenistan) are quietly working with international oil companies to work a way around the question of upstream stake," the official added.