4 months after inaugurating work on the Serhetabat-Herat part of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum advised TOLOnews that 2.9 kilometers of pipeline had been constructed and one other 3.4 kilometers of the route have been ready.
The $10 billion 1,814-kilometer pipeline is envisioned to finally carry some 33 bcm of fuel per 12 months to South Asia from Turkmenistan.
The 214 km part in Turkmenistan was reportedly accomplished in 2018, with a ceremony marking its entry into Afghanistan, however as Bruce Pannier’s reporting then (and extra recently) famous, it wasn’t totally clear that the completion was something however symbolic. Into 2019, Turkmen state media reported pipeline work as ongoing.
In September 2024, Turkmenistan held one other ceremony marking the TAPI pipeline’s entry into Afghanistan. Former president and present Chairman of the Individuals’s Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was joined by his son, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, and performing Taliban Prime Minister Muhammad Hassan Akhund on the Afghan-Turkmen border to mark the beginning of development on the 150 km Serhetabat-Herat part of the pipeline.
In early December, Taliban authorities reported that “sensible work” had begun.
TAPI’s largest hurdle has at all times been Afghanistan; 774 km of the pipeline will cross the nation, an infinite endeavor for the de facto authorities in Kabul. That lower than 3 km being accomplished is an event for statements to the media illustrates simply how low the bar for progress is.
The Taliban have outlined four phases for construction: Part one is the Serhetabat to Herat part, working from the Turkmen border to town of Herat; section two will run from Herat to Helmand province; section three will proceed on from Helmand to Kandahar; and the ultimate section will join Kandahar to the Pakistani border.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid advised media in December that work on the primary section could be accomplished inside two years.
CEO of the TAPI Pipeline Firm Restricted consortium, Muhammetmyrat Amanov, stated in March 2024 on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan discussion board that the primary part could be round 150 km.
Turkmenistan’s state fuel firm, Turkmengas, is almost all shareholder of the TAPI Pipeline Firm Restricted – the challenge operator – with an 85 p.c stake. Afghan Gasoline Company, Pakistan’s Inter State Gasoline Techniques (Non-public) Restricted, and India’s GAIL every maintain 5 p.c within the consortium.
The pipeline’s price ticket is estimated to be as a lot as $10 billion.
