Pakistan ready for gas price deal for TAPI

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 6 (UPI) -- Pakistan expects to sign a gas sales purchase agreement with Turkmenistan this month for supplies designated for a multinational pipeline, an official said.

Pakistani Petroleum Secretary Muhammad Ejaz Chaudhry confirmed to the country's media service The News International that a delegation was headed to Turkmenistan April 18 to formally sign a purchase agreement for the planned Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline.

Natural gas under the terms of the GSPA would be priced at 69 percent parity to crude oil, he said.

Washington backs TAPI, which has the support of the Asia Development Bank, over a rival project planned from Iran. TAPI partners have expressed concerns about the various charges tied to the pipeline, however.

India moved a closer to TAPI during an energy conference in New Delhi last month.

The pipeline could move natural gas to Pakistan as early as 2016 though the new service notes much of those plans hinge on the security situation in neighboring Afghanistan.