AKIPRESS.COM - A meeting of four countries scheduled to be held today is likely to make French energy giant Total as the consortium leader for financing of a multi-billion-dollar Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan and India (TAPI) gas pipeline project.

“Officials and ministers of TAPI member countries have arrived here to attend today’s meeting which is set to finalise the award of a multi-billion-dollar project financing contract to French energy giant Total”, an official at the Petroleum Ministry told Pakistani media.

He said that ministers of the four nations would try to reach a final deal in the meeting. Gas-rich Turkmenistan, he added, has already agreed, in principle, to sign a service contract with Total, allowing the company to act as the consortium leader for financing the pipeline. Pakistani companies – Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) – are likely to be part of the consortium and take part in gas extraction in Turkmenistan, the official said.

Under a proposed deal, Total will help extract gas from Turkmenistan’s fields, which will be exported to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. In return, the company will be paid a service fee in cash or in kind. Sources in the energy sector said that gas companies of the four countries have already established a company to build, own and operate the 1,800km TAPI natural gas pipeline. The four state-owned companies will hold an equal share in the pipeline operator.

It is worth mentioning here that under the Tapi pipeline, which is expected to cost over $10 billion, Pakistan will get 1.365 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcfd), India will also receive the same ie 1.365 bcfd and Afghanistan’s share is 0.5 bcfd. Pakistan and India have already signed gas sale and purchase agreements and efforts are under way to attract potential investors for financing the project.

At present, the four countries are part of this transnational gas pipeline (TAPI) starting from Central Asia in the process of setting up a consortium and selecting a technically capable and financially sound company as the consortium leader, which will design, finance and construct the pipeline.