China President Xi
Jinping and Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly
Berdimuhamedow appear in
good spirits at a ceremony to mark the
first phase of
development of the massive Galkynysh gas field. Deals
signed by the two nations
will ensure China supplies of natural gas
through a new extension
of the TAPI Gas Pipeline.
China 'Grabs' Control from U.S. of Massive TAPI Gas Pipeline (ABC.AZ, Azerbaijan)
"By gaining control over gas from the Galkynysh
field, China has in fact grabbed control over TAPI, a
development that the U.S. appears to have been ready for and doesn't mind. To
some extent, as it was with the USSR in its day, it will be more convenient for
Washington to have China mired in Afghanistan's mayhem."
Baku,
Fineko: With a subtle "gesture of its hand"
yesterday, China grabbed control over the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India
pipeline project [TAPI] from the United States,
becoming the chief overseer of Central and South Asian gas resources.
By
means of a contract for the sale of 25 billion cubic meters of gas per year
concluded between state-owned Turkmengas and China National Petroleum Corporation,
the ideas and plans of others have been expropriated. The deal will increase
the volume of gas Turkmengas supplies to China by up
to 65 billion cubic meters. At the same time, the agreement highlights Turkmenistan's
plan for boosting exports through new export routes, in this case, through a
branch of the TAPI pipeline referred to as "Line D,"
which will run through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on its way to
China.
The
agreement enabled China President Xi Jinping and Turkmenistan
President Gurbanguly
Berdimuhamedow to adopt a declaration of
understanding on establishing a strategic partnership between the two countries.
Agreements between Turkmengas and the China Development Bank
on financing the second stage of development of the Galkynysh
gas field, and a contract between Turkmengas and CNPC on designing and building a commercial gas development
plant with the capacity to process 30 billion cubic meters per year at the Galkynysh gas field, made the declaration possible.
Along
with the Dauletabad gas field, Galkynysh,
as one of the world's largest gas fields, was destined to become a source of
supply for the TAPI gas pipeline. By gaining control
over gas from the Galkynysh field, China has in fact grabbed
control over TAPI, a development that the U.S.
appears to have been ready for and doesn't mind. To some extent, as it was with
the USSR in its day, it will be more convenient for Washington to have China mired
in Afghanistan's mayhem.
Earlier,
the project of building the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline
was in-effect blocked by the United States, when the Afghan government postponed
a TAPI construction tender without mentioning why. The
reason was that the Afghan government was preparing for the withdrawal of U.S.
and NATO troops in 2014.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
Initially,
the U.S.
Agency for International Development had rushed consultants to complete the
study due to plans for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. As a result, just as USAID consultants had feared, uncertainty associated with
the pullout delayed the launch of the pipeline's construction.
Before
the tender was postponed, the results of a project feasibility study were to be
presented on November 22-23, 2013. It is now unclear when the results of the
study will be presented.
The
$7.6 billion agreement to build TAPI to supply Turkmenistan
gas through Afghanistan, Pakistan and India was signed in December 10, 2010,
and gas deliveries via the pipeline system were set to begin in December 2014. Supplies
are now unlikely to begin on time.
Some
of the world’s leading companies, including Agip and
Halliburton, claim involvement
with some of the engineering on the project, and initial sketches of the
pipeline were drawn up by engineers from the United States.
Forecasts
are that at least 37 million cubic meters of gas per day will be delivered via TAPI. The TAPI pipeline will be
laid on deserted mountainous terrain, and security will be provided from the
air.
