A long-delayed pipeline project from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India via Afghanistan is in the final stages of financing, and investor roadshows are due to be held next month, a Pakistani official involved in the project said on Friday.
Originating at the giant Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan, the $10 billion TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) pipeline, which involves the four countries' own energy companies, would carry 33 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year.
But difficulties in obtaining financing for the project and concerns about security in Afghanistan, where Islamist Taliban insurgents control swathes of the territory earmarked as the pipeline route, have led to lengthy delays.
Mobin Saulat, head of Pakistan's state-owned Inter State Gas Systems, told Reuters there was "significant progress" with the TAPI project and that investor roadshows to raise funds are planned for November.
"There will be roadshows soon in all the major financial hubs," he said. "The project's planned commissioning is 2020 and I think we are very much on target."