Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov invited the business community of Uzbekistan to participate in the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, said the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news service.
The suggestion was made at a meeting of the Turkmen president with Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov in Ashgabat.
Uzbekistan was also offered to proceed with the development of oil and gas fields on the Caspian shelf.
“The [Turkmen] head of state noted with satisfaction the ever friendly and good-neighborly nature of the Turkmen-Uzbek relations,” reads the message.
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, which possess considerable reserves of hydrocarbon resources, stand for diversification of energy flows.
The total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers. A 214-kilometer section of the pipeline will run through Turkmenistan, a 774-kilometer section will run through Afghanistan and an 826-kilometer section will run through Pakistan.
Construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI started in 2015 and is scheduled to finish in late 2018.
The pipeline’s annual capacity will be 33 billion cubic meters of gas.
