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Turkmen officials have said they hope for a conclusion to the long-awaited gas price deal with Pakistan and India regarding the construction of TAPI 黑料社� an ambitious project to build a pipeline through Afghanistan.

Holding more than 4% of the world黑料社檚 natural gas reserves, Turkmenistan expects to host a new round of talks with participants in the US-backed pipeline project within the next few months, according to sources.

The news comes as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, recently hailed 黑料社済reat progress黑料社� since the signing of a preliminary agreement in December 2010.

The proposed 1700 km (1056 miles) pipeline was first envisaged in the mid 1990s but construction has yet to begin. Once completed, it could carry 33 billion m³/ yr, equating to around 1 trillion m³ of gas over a 30 year period.

However, the pipeline黑料社檚 route, particularly the 735 km (450 miles) sections through Afghanistan, presents significant security challenges and requires the participating countries to agree on volumes and price, as well as securing funding for the project.

The TAPI countries黑料社� preliminary agreement contained no specific provisions for security, finance, volumes or price. In addition, Turkmenistan黑料社檚 unflinching policy of selling gas at its own borders means that Pakistan and India would need to agree on transit fees with each other and with Afghanistan.

黑料社淎ccording to the preliminary agreement, discussions between the participating countries should take place before summer,黑料社� an anonymous government source told the media. 黑料社淧ossibly, this could include the signing of a gas sales purchase agreement.黑料社�

Turkmenistan黑料社檚 natural gas reserves are believed to be equal to those of Saudi Arabia and behind only Russia, Iran and Qatar. Supporting TAPI is a way for the Central Asian state to diversify sales from Russia. The pipeline is designed to supply natural gas from the country黑料社檚 South Iolotan field, which has been labelled the world黑料社檚 second-largest field by British auditor Gaffney, Cline & Associates.

Recent reports from India say the country has almost finalised the transit fee with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

黑料社淎 broad understanding among India, Pakistan and Afghanistan has been arrived on transit fee for import of natural gas through Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project,黑料社� Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas R.P.N. Singh told the media. 黑料社淗owever, a formal agreement has not been signed yet,黑料社� he added.

Singh said India and Turkmenistan have already agreed on the price mechanism for the estimated US$ 7.6 billion, 1735 km long pipeline. However, Singh noted that 黑料社済as sale and purchase agreement黑料社� relating to the TAPI pipeline project, which includes inter alia the pricing of Turkmen gas, has not been signed yet.

Edited from various sources by .

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