Turkmengaz, Islamic Development Bank Sign TAPI Related Protocol

State owned Turkmengaz and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on Tuesday signed a protocol on the outcomes of the evaluation commission on the TAPI gas pipeline project, according to the official Turkmen newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan.

The protocol was signed during President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s official visit to Saudi Arabia.

IDB President Ahmed Mohamed Ali Al-Madani said the multi-billion dollar project would not only have economic but also social benefits for the entire region, especially Afghanistan. He said the IDB fully supports the ambitious project.

Berdimuhamedov invited Saudi companies and financial institutions to participate in the project.

The much delayed transnational pipeline was formally inaugurated on December 13. Turkmengaz is the leader of the consortium and has 85 percent equity. Along with GAIL India, ISGS of Pakistan and Afghan Gas Enterprise (AGE) have 5 percent stake each. The TAPI pipeline will have a capacity to carry 90 million standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) gas for 30 years and is planned to become operational in 2018.

In April, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) agreed to invest $200 million in the next stage of the multibillion dollar TAPI pipeline project. The agreement was signed during 24th meeting of the steering committee of the TAPI pipeline project which was held in Ashgabat.

ADB was appointed the transaction advisor for the TAPI gas pipeline project in November 2013.