(PTI)
India has sought re-negotiation of the natural gas price it is to source through a proposed USD 10 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline in view of the slump in global energy markets, a top source said.
The four nations to the pipeline projects had in 2013 signed a gas sale purchase agreement (GSPA) that benchmarked the price of natural gas that Turkmenistan is to export at 55 per cent of the prevailing crude oil price. This translates into a price of about USD7.5 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) at current oil prices at the Turkmen border.
Added to this would be transit fee and transportation charges which would jack up the rates to over USD 10.5 per mmBtu at the Indian border, the source said. For a consumer, the price would be around USD 13 per mmBtu after adding local taxes and transportation charges. “This rate in the present global energy scenario is unacceptable. And so taking into cognizance of the current gas market, India has proposed for re-negotiation of GSPA,” the source said.
