Pakistan will finally ink the gas deal with Turkmenistan in Ashgabad on May 23-24 under which it would start importing in 2016 the gas of 1.365 bcf per day under $ 7.6 billion TAPI gas line project at a cost of 70 per cent parity of crude oil at Multan and 50 percent of crude oil at Afghan border, a senior official told Pakistan Observer. “A delegation headed by Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Husain on Sunday left for Turkmenistan to sign Gas Sales Purchase Agreement. India which is also part of the project will also sign its GSAP with Turkmestan.” Representatives of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, he said, will assemble in Turkmenistan on May 23-24 also for the upcountry development and would negotiate to develop their stakes in the gas field development and to this effect the steering committee comprising representatives of all the four countries and Asian Development Bank would lay down the strategy. The three gas buyer countries Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have already signed the transit fee deal at 49.5 cents per MMBTU for the gas to be imported from Turkmenistan under $ 7.6 billion TAPI gas line. “India will pay 49.5 cents per MMBTU as transit fee each to Afghanistan and Pakistan. And Pakistan will pay the same to Afghanistan only. India has already signed the gas sales purchase agreement with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan is to soon sign gas price deal with seller country.” “Pakistan will get $ 217 million as transit fee from India which will be paid to Afghanistan.” The pipeline is likely to bring gas to Pakistan by December 2016, depending on a credible security apparatus in Afghanistan. Under the proposed project, the 1,640 kms long TAPI gas pipeline will bring 3.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (bcfd) from Turkmenistan’s gas fields to Multan in central Pakistan and end in the northwest Indian town of Fazilka. Out of this, Pakistan will get 1.365 billion cubic feet of gas per day, India 1.365 bfcd and Afghanistan 0.5 bcfd. India will have to pay two transit fees, one to Afghanistan and other to Pakistan for the gas to be imported from Turkmenistan. Another relevant official said since Afghanistan has declined to have intake of gas from Turkmenistan under TAPI project arguing it has no infrastructure and gas network to absorb the gas, so it cannot afford to have its share of gas. Kabul is only interested in transit fee. “If Kabul sticks to its stance then its share will be equally divided between Pakistan and India.” He said Pakistan has also asked India for the transit fee equal to the transit fee that Afghanistan will charge from India but India is not in a mood to entertain this proposal saying the length of pipeline running through Afghanistan is much more than that of Pakistan and it will passes through difficult terrain. “Pakistan would get the benefit of $ 1 billion every year while importing gas from Turkmenistan if compared with import of gas from Iran.”