ISLAMABAD, Sept 23: With an objective to attract potential project sponsors for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) pipeline project, road shows have been organised in Singapore, New York and London.

The first road show was held in Singapore on Sept 11, second in New York on Sept 13-14 and third in London on Sept 17-20.

According to a press release, the road shows were coordinated by the Asian Development Bank and attended by representatives from the member countries.

The Pakistan’s delegation was represented by Mobin Saulat, Managing Director, Inter State Gas System (ISGS) and a team comprising technical, commercial and legal experts from the ISGS.

The road show in Singapore was well received, with renowned companies and financial institutions such as Petronas, Temasek and the State Bank of India attending it.

The invitees were given a comprehensive presentation by the ADB and Tapi members on the structure of the project, supply source, and the market demand in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

They were also updated on the current status of the project and the way forward.

The Pakistani side informed them that the government had recently launched a new petroleum policy. The companies expressed interest in the policy.

The New York road show was attended by representatives of Chevron, Exxon Mobile, Citigroup and US Ex-Im who expressed keen interest in the project.

At the London road show Tapi parties met the representatives of the British Petroleum, Shell, British Gas and Morgan Stanley.

The notable invitees for upcoming shows are: Mubadala Group, Macquarie, RWE and Deutsche Bank.

The Tapi project aims to export up to 33 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year through a proposed 1,800-km pipeline from Turkmenistan to India via Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The estimated cost of the project is $7.6 billion based on pre-feasibility study done by Penspen. A major milestone was achieved when Pakistan-Turkmenistan and India-Turkmenistan bilateral gas sales and purchase agreements were inked in May this year.—APP