Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline

The Turkmenistan - Afghanistan - Pakistan pipeline (abbr. TAP), in the Anglo -Saxon and Trans - Afghanistan pipeline is a planned natural gas transport system. The pipeline will be designed and built under the auspices of the Asian Development Bank.

Development and transport performance

The pipeline will convey natural gas from Chardschou in Turkmenistan on the Caspian Sea through Afghanistan to ports on the Indian Ocean in Pakistan. The cost of its construction amounted to an estimated 3.5 billion U.S. dollars. The TAP is projected to plans run along the highway from Herat to Kandahar in Afghanistan and Quetta and Multan in Pakistan. Starting from the gas fields in Turkmenistan to Dauletabad will transport 30 billion cubic meters of gas in the final stage almost 1700 km long pipeline. The gas reserves are estimated to be in Dauletabad 1.7 trillion cubic meters ( 2002). 830 km of the TAP are in Afghanistan, run approximately 400 km in Pakistan.

Genesis

In addition to its own natural resources make Afghanistan particularly the huge oil and gas reserves in neighboring Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as a key country. The idea to lay a gas pipeline through Afghanistan, goes back to the company's general manager of the Argentine oil company Bridas, Carlos Bulgheroni. Bridas invested in 1991 in the natural gas production in Turkmenistan and was looking for a way to export the extracted gas. But the company Unocal, the twelfth largest oil companies in the United States, a member of a consortium of eight western oil companies for joint exploitation of oil fields around Baku, Azerbaijan, had great interest in a pipeline across Afghanistan. After Turkmenistan and Pakistan had already signed a contract for such a pipeline with the Argentine Bridas Oil, Unocal sighted in 1995 in a pre-agreement with the Taliban also piped to a year before they conquered Kabul. Nevertheless succeeded Bridas 1996, to obtain the consent of all warring parties in Afghanistan, including the Taliban. The proposal of a publicly accessible pipeline, own gas could feed into the other companies and countries over time, said to the warlords, as they could raise transit fees and Afghanistan decreed in the north has its own gas fields.

Unocal, which already had a vast experience in Asia and since 1976 has worked in Pakistan, be assured the cooperation of influential lobbyists such as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Robert Oakley, and the former employee of the UN Special Mission in Afghanistan, Charlie Santos, also Americans, and could people in key positions in the Clinton administration - win for the idea of ​​a slightly modified Afghanistan pipeline - as the then Deputy Secretary of State for South Asia Robin Raphel as well as members of the National Security Council ( NSC). 1997 Zalmay Khalilzad further talks between Unocal and the now ruling Taliban took place in the presence of Unocal consultant and later American special envoy for Afghanistan, which had the implementation of the plans of 1995 to build a pipeline through western Afghanistan to the destination. Due to massive U.S. pressure Pakistan and Turkmenistan broke the contract concluded with the Argentine Bridas Oil contract and gave Unocal the contract. Bridas sued Unocal in 1996 that a compensation of $ 15 billion for the theft of the idea pipeline through Afghanistan. In addition, the Bridas filed a lawsuit against Turkmenistan for breach of contract regarding the blockade of Yashlar and Keimir fields. However, it understood the lawyers of Unocal, seek the process for six years.

Bridas had the advantage that they did not require any funds from international financial institutions, what an internationally recognized government in Kabul would have required over the competitors Unocal. The Bridas could immediately begin construction of the pipeline without any precondition. For the Unocal a recognized government in Kabul was a requirement to get among other things, by the World Bank loan for the project.

In December 1998, Unocal withdrew due to the pressure of the part of the politicians, the public and the shareholders formed against the Taliban withdrew from the pipeline consortium.

Signing of the contract without construction

The contract for the pipeline had already been negotiated with the ousted Taliban regime was signed by the heads of state of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan on 27 December 2002. The deal was made possible earlier in the year by the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. The Afghan government should therefore receive eight percent of revenues; the operators expect to 12,000 new jobs in the economically prostrate, the war-ravaged country. Nevertheless, the implementation of the construction project is currently largely put on hold: Work on passing through Turkmenistan section should be indeed taken in 2006, the implementation of the entire project is, however, up for grabs, because the southern section of the pipeline would pass through areas that before still de facto control of the Taliban and the terrorist organization Al- Qaeda.

1998 plans for a much more extensive project of a Central Asian oil pipeline with approximately the same course had been suspended after the U.S. company Unocal ( his term lobbyists: including Henry Kissinger and Richard Armitage ) his involvement in the 1997 formed cent gas consortium amounting to 8 billion dollars had been withdrawn. This also leading through Afghanistan and ending in South Asia Pipeline should have a capacity of about 160 million liters (1 million barrels) per day. Turkmenistan focused in the following years to transactions with Russian energy companies as LUKOIL.

Iran - Pakistan -India pipeline: competitive or complementary?

A third pipeline is to run from Myanmar through Bangladesh to India. She was also decided in principle thing; the construction should start in 2005. According to observers, it is the government target in New Delhi, led by the oil minister Mani Shankar Aiyar to create a trans- Asian gas network, which - extends from the Persian Gulf to Southeast Asia - with a decided inclusion of erstwhile rival China. However, it seemed to have come here through agreements with Chinese companies Myanmar serious setbacks at the turn of 2005/2006.

After the other hand, India's participation in the TAP seemed uncertain years, the Trans - Afghanistan - Pakistan pipeline is now seen as actually crucial for meeting the rapidly growing demand for energy in the subcontinent. However, whether a contemplated course of 2002, 640 -kilometer extension to India is realized, is currently ( early 2006 ) unclear. As LNG ( Liquefied Natural Gas) in any case - of imports in particular Japan is dependent, as long as a pipeline from western Kazakhstan to Xinjiang (China ) and possibly further unfeasible appears to the Pacific coast, mainly for economic reasons ( they would be too expensive ), but also for political reasons ( Xinjiang is considered potentially rebellious province ) - to Turkmen and possibly later Afghan natural gas to be shipped by Pakistani ports from after all of East and Southeast Asia. Imports of liquefied gas by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan already do currently (as of 2005), nearly 80 percent of global LNG trade.