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Tuesday, 02 December, 2008, 23:40 GMT | more >>

‘India tossed googly in Tapi gas talks’



By Upstream staff 

India has been undercut by Russian giant Gazprom, as well as possibly by fellow Asian bidders, in the price it is offering for Turkmen gas imports, local media reported.

New Delhi is reportedly rethinking its planned participation in the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) pipeline after discovering that its quote of $200 to $230 per thousand cubic metres of gas was well above the $150 per Mcf which Gazprom will pay for its exports in the second half of this year, the Economic Times of India reported.

Turkmenistan had reportedly told the Gas Authority of Indial Ltd (Gail) that Gazprom would pay $400 to $450 per Mcf, on par with prices in the international gas market, during a meeting in late May, the paper reported.

India later found out that no increase in prices had been discussed during a meeting between Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller and Turkmenistan Deputy Prime Minister Tachberdi Tagiev on 3 June.

“India must wait and watch before agreeing to an increased price for Turkmen gas during Tapi meetings,” the paper quoted an unnamed official adviser to Gail as saying. “Our quotation of $200-230 per thcm is already on the higher side.”

Turkmenistan had rejected India’s bid in May, saying it had enough buyers at the market price.

Turkmenistan has insisted that prices for the proposed $7.6 billion Tapi pipe be negotiated separately in closed door meeting with each potential customer, meaning neither Afghanistan, Pakistan or India were aware of each others’ prices.

“It [Turkmenistan] wants to play one pipeline against the other to extract maximum price from each gas destination. However, it is not credible to believe that Russia, Iran and China would agree to a price tag of $400-450 per thcm, from the present price level of $140-150 per Mcm,” the source told the paper.

“It was only in April 2008 that Turkmenistan agreed to resume gas supply to Iran in that price range,” the source said.


Wednesday, 02 July, 2008, 03:05 GMT  | last updated: Wednesday, 02 July, 2008, 03:05 GMT

Stretch: India believes it is already bidding too high for proposed gas imports from Turkmenistan
 

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