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that front, officials here expect that the ADB would be seeking
expressions of interest (EoIs) for the appointment of consultants
to carry out the feasibility study of the project.
President
Pervez Musharraf had an encouraging response from
the US on Saturday when President Bush assured him
of US-plans to revive the pipeline project from Central
Asia to Pakistan through Afghanistan. The US has special
interest in the Caspian region which is host to over
$5 billion oil and gas reserves.
The
assurance coincided with a trilateral ministerial level
working group meeting of Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan
being held in Kabul on Monday.
A
government official told Dawn on Wednesday that a three-member
delegation would leave for Kabul on Monday on a UN-flight
and return after 24-hour stay there. The delegation,
led by petroleum minister Usman Aminuddin, comprises
secretary petroleum M. Abdullah Yousaf and joint secretary
Khurshid Anwar.
Under
the trilateral Summit-Agreement signed by heads of three
nations in February this year, the energy sector ministerial
working is meeting regularly on quarterly basis to pursue
the $2.4 billion pipeline from Daulatabad to Gwadar.
The project cost could go up to $3.2 billion in case
the pipeline is extended to energy-hungry India.
"We
have asked Ashkabad to put on hold the GSPA (gas sales
and purchase agreement) until the technical details of
the project are available and that would be possible
only when the ADB-sponsored feasibility is ready by next
year," a government official told Dawn.
Related
Links
Asian
ministers support natural gas pipeline project
Development
Programme in Pakistan.
Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Turkmenistan Sign Pipeline Deal
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