116 of 153 kilometers laid: TAPI gas is expected to reach Herat in two months
Central Asia Column “Steppe Ahead”
116 of the 153 kilometers of the TAPI pipeline in the Afghan province of Herat have been laid. The section is scheduled to go into operation within two months, Provincial Governor Islam Jar announced on August 27. This means Turkmenistan is poised to make its first commercial gas sales via the new pipeline. It is designed to handle 33 billion cubic meters per year and is intended to transport Turkmen gas through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India.
Herat to Be First Market for TAPI Gas
“The work is being completed, and the project will go into operation within the next two months,” Islam Jar said, according to the Afghan news agency Pajhwok, at a ceremony held by the Herat Chamber of Industry and Mining. The Turkmen side has completed its portion of the work and will hand over the section to the province once the final touches are finished. Islam Jar called on factory owners and households to prepare for the connection.
The commercial framework was established on August 10 in the border town of Torghundi. There, the Turkmen state-owned company Turkmengaz and the Afghan state-owned company Afghan Gas signed a memorandum on gas purchases. According to News Central Asia, a portal specializing in the region, Turkmenistan’s National Leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar attended the signing. Both sides have yet to determine the price, purchase volumes, and distribution. Baradar proposed a pricing formula designed to cushion the impact of fluctuations in European gas markets. The two countries also agreed to establish a technical committee for TAPI, fiber-optic, and rail projects, including the renovation of the Herat-Torghundi line.
Construction of the Afghan section has been underway since September 2024. The regional news portal Times of Central Asia reports that 116 kilometers had been laid as of early August. At the same time, a distribution network for factories, power plants, and households is being built in Herat.
Dependence on trade with China is driving the project
So far, Turkmenistan has sold its gas almost exclusively to China. In 2025, the country supplied approximately 30 billion cubic meters there, said China’s ambassador to Ashgabat, Ji Shumin, according to Eurasianet, a portal specializing in Eurasia. Beijing expects similar volumes for 2026. Former President Berdimuhamedov, however, cites 40 billion cubic meters per year; statistics from the isolated country remain contradictory. For Ashgabat, TAPI represents the first major new market in a decade and a half. Afghanistan is set to receive 5 billion cubic meters per year, while Pakistan and India will each receive 14 billion.
The gas comes from Galkynysh, one of the world’s largest gas fields. Its expansion is proceeding in parallel: According to the Times of Central Asia, Ashgabat agreed in April 2026 with the Chinese state-owned company CNPC on the fourth phase of expansion for 5.1 billion U.S. dollars. This phase is intended to increase processing capacity by 10 billion cubic meters per year. Smaller buyers are also coming into the picture: There is a contract with Uzbekistan for up to 2 billion cubic meters per year, and Ashgabat is exploring supply options with Tajikistan.
The Global Energy Monitor project database estimates the cost of the 1,814-kilometer pipeline at $7.7 billion, down from the originally estimated $10 billion. Turkmengaz holds an 85% stake in the consortium and is providing the bulk of the equity capital, totaling $4.42 billion. The Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank have pledged loans totaling more than $1 billion.
For Ashgabat, every new customer counts. According to state media, the economy grew by 6.3% year-over-year in the first half of 2026, but industrial output rose by only 2.7%. New gas revenues are expected to close the gap.
Price, financing, and continued construction remain unclear
The memorandum dated August 10 specifies neither price nor volumes nor a fixed delivery date, reports the Afghan broadcaster Ariana News. The timeline for the sections in Pakistan and India also remains open. Islamabad has not yet begun construction on its section. Without these two major buyers, TAPI remains, for the time being, a regional project supplying a maximum of 5 billion cubic meters to Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, the stakes are high for Kabul. According to Global Energy Monitor, the country expects transit fees of around $400 million per year at full capacity. Added to this are fuel for power plants and industry, as well as jobs along the route.
Skepticism remains warranted. The IMF forecasts only 2.4% growth for Turkmenistan in 2026 and publicly questions the official figures. With TAPI, too, there has been a gap between announcements and implementation so far: the project was originally supposed to go into operation in 2021. If the first cubic meters do indeed flow into Herat within two months, that will mark the most tangible progress since construction began. For Turkmenistan’s economic diversification, one question will be decisive: whether Pakistan follows suit.
Source: Pajhwok Afghan News, News Central Asia, Times of Central Asia, Ariana News, Global Energy Monitor, Eurasianet (all EN)