CleanupBot II at 17:26, 13 August 2023

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{{Infobox pipeline
| name = Afghanistan Oil Pipeline
| type =
| caption =
| map =
| map_caption = Location of Afghanistan Oil Pipeline
| country = [[Turkmenistan]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Pakistan]], [[India]]| state =
| province =
| coordinates =
| lat =
| long =
| direction =
| start = [[Türkmenabat]]
| through = [[Afghanistan]]
| finish = [[India]]'s various northern states
| par = [[Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline|Trans-Afghanistan Gas Pipeline]]
| owner = [[Unocal Corporation]]
| partners =
| operator =
| technical_service_provider=
| contractors =
| construction=
| expected =
| est =
| decom =
| length_km = 1813

| discharge =
| discharge_bbl_d= 1
| diameter_mm =
| compressor_stations_no=
| compressor_stations=
| pumping_stations_no=
| pumping_stations=
}}

The '''Afghanistan Oil Pipeline''' was a project proposed by several oil companies to transport oil from [[Turkmenistan]] and [[Central Asia]] through [[Afghanistan]] to [[Pakistan]] and [[India]].

==Pipeline Project History==
In the 1990s, the American [[Unocal Corporation]] considered building a {{convert|1100|mi|km|order=flip|adj=mid|-long}} {{bbl to t|1000000|per=d|t_per=a}} oil pipeline to link Turkmenistan's [[Türkmenabat]] (former Chardzou) to India along the [[Arabian Sea]], providing a possible alternative export route to the [[Omsk]] (Russia) – [[Pavlodar]] (Kasakhstan) – [[Shymkent]] – [[Türkmenabat]] Pipeline. The pipeline was expected to cost US$2.5 billion. However, due to political and security instability at that time, the project was put on hold. But, the plan was later revived after the United States-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.<ref name=NYTimes>[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/world/asia/afghanistan-pipeline-tapi.html Afghanistan Breaks Ground on Pipeline] Andrew E. Kramer, The New York Times, February 23rd, 2018.</ref>

Some have proposed that the actual motive for the United States-led [[United States invasion of Afghanistan|Western invasion of Afghanistan in 2001]] was Afghanistan's importance as a conduit for oil pipelines to Afghanistan's neighbouring countries, by effectively bypassing Russian and Iranian territories, and breaking the Russian and Iranian collective monopoly on regional energy supplies.<ref name=slate>
{{cite web
| url= http://www.slate.com/?id=2059487
| title= Pipe Dreams
| author= Seth Stevenson
| publisher= Slate
| date = 2001-12-06
| accessdate=2008-08-09| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080804165952/http://www.slate.com/?id=2059487| archivedate= 4 August 2008 | url-status= live}}
</ref> Others have argued that the theoretical pipeline was not a significant reason for the invasion because most Western governments and their respective oil companies preferred an export route that went through the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan then to Georgia and on to the Black Sea instead of one that goes through Afghanistan. <ref name=bbc>
{{cite news
| url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1626889.stm
| title= Afghanistan: the pipeline war?
| publisher= [[BBC]]
| author = Malcolm Haslett
| date = 2001-10-29
| accessdate=2008-08-09| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080819204947/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1626889.stm| archivedate= 19 August 2008 | url-status= live}}
</ref>

In 2018, Afghanistan broke ground on the 1,127-mile-long Afghanistan oil pipeline that will connect the state of Punjab in northern India with the Galkynysh gas field in the desert in eastern Turkmenistan. Once energy starts to flow, the country of Afghanistan expects about $400 million a year in transit fees, partly offsetting some of the international aid that now props up the government.<ref name=NYTimes/>

The United States is backing the pipeline, which will carry 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year, passing through five southern Afghan provinces — Herat, Farah, Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar — that have been Taliban strongholds, and a major security concern. However, both the Taliban and Pakistan, a country believed to hold sway over the insurgent group, have pledged support.<ref name=NYTimes/>

At an estimated cost of US$10 billion,<ref>[https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/taliban-vows-protect-gas-pipeline-war-expands-west-afghanistan Gas Pipeline War] by Ayaz Gul, Voice of America, May 19th, 2018.</ref> an Isle of Man-based holding company will oversee the project with Turkmengaz, a Turkmenistan state company. Turkmenistan officials have also said that they have received loans from Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank. The pipeline is expected to be completed by 2020.<ref name=NYTimes/>

==See also==

*[[Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline]]
*[[Ashgabat agreement]]
*[[North-South Transport Corridor]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Oil pipelines in Turkmenistan]]
[[Category:Oil pipelines in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Oil pipelines in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Afghanistan–Pakistan relations]]
[[Category:Afghanistan–Turkmenistan relations]]
[[Category:Pakistan–Turkmenistan relations]]

Afghanistan Oil Pipeline - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 17:26, 13 August 2023