[citation needed] In February 1999, the Turkmen government entered into an agreement with General Electric and Bechtel Group for a feasibility study on the proposed pipeline.

[3] In 1999, while attending the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan signed a number of agreements concerned with construction of pipelines.

[12][13] On 4 September 2008, Iran's deputy foreign minister Mehti Safari confirmed that Tehran opposes the construction of any undersea pipelines in the Caspian because of environmental concerns.

[20] An EU proposal generally named the Southern Gas Corridor project kindled interest in the Trans+Caspian pipeline as an alternative supply route to Gasprom monopoly to European Union markets.

In June 2021 the Turkmenistan government official media outlet Golden Age statedExternal conditions for construction of Trans-Caspian gas pipeline of the total length of 300 km between Turkmen and Azeri coasts of Caspian Sea have become more favorable in the last years.

Another obstacle was covered on January 21 this year when the Memorandum of Understanding on joint exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources of Dostluk offshore field has been signed between the governments of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

Alexander Golovin, special envoy on Caspian issues, has stated that a major gas pipeline would pose a serious, dangerous risk to the prosperity of the entire region.

[citation needed] Russia has also taken the legal position that a potential pipeline project, regardless of the route it takes on the seabed, would require the consent of all five Caspian littoral states in order to proceed.

[4] In 2022 proponents of a rival pipeline between offshore installations said that the Trans-Caspian was not financially viable as the EU would not agree to a decades long contract as they are doing an energy transition.