Source: ASCOPE Report to 27th Senior Official on Mineral and Energy, 2009
26. The realisation of TAGP is expected to encounter substantial financial and legal complexities. The challenges here include increasing investment costs, synchronising national technical and security regulation requirements, and differences in the supply, distribution, and management procedure of natural gas across the countries. Rivalry between the pipeline-delivered natural gas and other energy sources, such as coal and liquefied natural gas, also needs to be addressed. In addition, there is also a need to overcome the issue of political trust common in energy markets cooperation, which can be a huge barrier to trade of pipelined gas and electricity.