Pakistan inching closer to TAPI pipeline

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 13 (UPI) -- An economic committee in Pakistan announced it endorsed a draft natural gas sales purchase agreement for a pipeline from Turkmenistan.

Washington backs the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas option over an Iranian plan to move gas from the South Pars field in the Persian Gulf.

Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee approved a draft GSPA that would link gas prices to 70 percent of crude oil. The committee called on the government to meet regularly to determine items like construction cost and the risks associated with conflict in Afghanistan, the Daily Times news service in Pakistan reports.

The GSPA could be signed as early as next week in Turkmenistan.

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. Pakistan has said it would pursue the Iranian option as a means to address ongoing energy concerns.