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ASHGABAT HOSTS NINTH SESSION OF TRANS-AFGHAN PIPELINE PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE A two-day session of the steering committee of the gas pipeline project between Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan started in Ashgabat. The steering committee consisting of the ministers of oil and gas bodies of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan was established to coordinate efforts on realization of agreements reached at a trilateral summit in Islamabad in 2002. This time, however, the session is attended by the Indian representative as this South-Asian country officially agreed to participate in the project in the middle of 2005. Afghan Minister of Mines and Industries Mir Mohammad Sediq, Pakistani Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Amanullah Khan Niazi, Indian Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha J. Patel arrived in the Turkmen capital to attend the steering committee s session. They are accompanied by senior specialists and representatives of the large national oil and gas companies. Besides, representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the official sponsor of the project's feasibility study, will also attend the session. The ADB delegation is headed by senior energy specialist Brian Millison. It is expected that the ADB s preliminary report on the safety of the pipeline, an important factor for adopting a decision on the start of construction, will be released at the session. It is also expected that Pakistan and India will confirm future import volumes of natural gas to be shipped via the planned pipeline. As was reported earlier, the ADB presented a final version of the Trans-Afghan pipeline feasibility study prepared by British Penspen company to the ministers of oil and gas industry and mineral resources of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in the mid 2005. The 56-inch pipeline with a working pressure of 100 atmospheres will have a throughput of 33 billion cubic meters of gas a year. The project's construction costs are estimated at US $ 3.3 billion. A total of six compressor stations will be built on the 1,680-kilometer route from the Dovletabad gas field in Turkmenistan to the Fazilka village on India's border with Pakistan. Source: The Times of Central Asia, 14.02.2006
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