ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has awarded the contract of laying the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline project to the United States International Oil Company (IOC) with an estimated cost of $10 billion.

Geo News quoted a press release issued by the oil company’s liaison office stating that the contract for the 2,200-kilometre TAP gas pipeline, scheduled for completion within three years, had been awarded to the US-based company. It said two oil refineries and four thermal powerhouses, with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, would also be established under this project.

It further reported that the pipeline would be built up to Gwadar and would supply two million barrels of oil and four billion cubic feet of natural gas to Pakistan every day. APP quoted IOC’s press statement as saying that a $3.5-billion refinery would also be built at Gwadar under the terms of the contract.

Online reported that the project envisages the construction of a Hydro-cracker to facilitate the production of JP-1 and JP-4 petroleum products in Pakistan for the first time in the nation’s history.

According to sources in the International Oil Company, the matters of security and insurance in Afghanistan during the laying of the pipeline have been finalised between the oil company and authorities, and a signing ceremony confirming the mega-project agreement would be held shortly. agencies