The documents were signed on Monday 10 August, at meetings in Torghundi and Herat between Turkmen and Afghan delegations; the purchase memorandum surfaced through Afghan state media on Tuesday. Under it, the two state companies will negotiate the price, Afghanistan's required volume and the distribution mechanism. A separate memorandum covers gasification of Herat province.
Construction advanced with the paperwork. On the Turkmen count, 123 kilometres of the Serhetabat-Herat section are laid and more than 30 are under construction, with about 300 units of equipment on the line. Afghanistan's mines and petroleum ministry counts 116 kilometres of pipe and 117 of monitoring road, with 595 Afghans employed and Herat pipe-laying due to finish by winter. The two counts are different cuts and are carried separately.
TAPI's economics were written for Pakistani and Indian offtake, with Afghanistan collecting transit fees. A domestic purchase line changes what the pipeline is for: the pipe reaches Herat years before it can reach Pakistan, and the gas will now be sold where the pipe ends. Kabul acquires a stake in completion beyond the fees. A memorandum is a promise, not an outcome, and this one has no price, no volume and no date. The kilometres already laid are the part that exists.