Bangladesh is still seeking to join the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project - that is currently under implementation - to open up a new window for sourcing natural gas.
A proposal from Bangladesh for joining the TAPI, also known as Trans-Afghanistan pipeline project, has been kept pending with the authorities concerned for over the past five years, said a senior official of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
Once the TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd, the implementing authority of the project, gives a go-ahead nod, the government will initiate necessary formalities to join it, said the official of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) under the ministry.
Under the project, Turkmenistan will export natural gas from its Galkynysh gas-field through a 1,800-km pipeline that will enter India through Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The project's construction work started in Turkmenistan in December 2015, and in Afghanistan in February 2018. Pakistan inked an agreement in March 2019 to facilitate implementation of the TAPI project.
The row over Kashmir between the neighbouring Pakistan and India, however, has emerged as a new threat over execution of the much-talked-about project.
The total cost of the project has been estimated at US$ 25 billion. Turkmenistan will spend 85 per cent of the project's total cost, including an investment of $15 billion to develop gas-fields and $10 billion to build gas pipeline. The other participating countries will contribute 5.0 per cent each.
Bangladesh's inclusion with the TAPI project will diversify the country's energy sources and ensure future energy security, said the EMRD official.
Bangladesh has been importing petroleum products since its inception in 1971. Currently the country is importing liquefied natural gas (LNG), and soon it will start importing coal. Besides, importing re-gasified LNG (RLNG) from neighbouring India is also under consideration.
Officials said Bangladesh had shown interest to join with the TAPI in May 2012. Subsequently, the country sent an initial proposal to the TAPI Steering Committee, expressing interest to be a part of the gas pipeline project.
But a preliminary study, carried out by the state-run Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL), then found the country's inclusion in the TAPI project non-viable, which prompted the government to 'go slow' on the proposal.
Bangladesh renewed its interest to join the TAPI project in May 2014 to meet the country's mounting natural gas demand.
A high-powered committee then visited Turkmenistan, and placed a proposal to the TAPI implementing authority over joining the project. The proposal still remains pending for approval.
Sources said under the TAPI project, Pakistan is expected to get around 1,365 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas from Turkmenistan, India around 1,365 mmcfd, and Afghanistan around 500 mmcfd.
Bangladesh's overall natural gas output is hovering around 3,200 mmcfd, including around 580 mmcfd of RLNG.
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