Pakistan confirms commitment to the TAPI pipeline

Delegates to the Asia Gas Partnership Summit in New Delhi broke into applause after Pakistan confirmed its commitment to the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline

“I very proudly join my hands with the Indian, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan governments in the TAPI project,” Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources secretary Muhammad Ejaz Chaudhry, told delegates. “Let’s not fight.  Let’s integrate, let’s cooperate.” He added that construction could start in eight to 10 months time. The pipeline could be complete within two-and-a-half years, with first gas in 2016. Chaudhry also said Pakistan’s natural-gas fields were depleting, and TAPI supply would offset a fall in domestic output.   Rune Stroem, director of energy at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), later told  the summit more progress had been made with TAPI in the last two years than the previo