The American oil company, Unocal, has said it is pulling out of a consortium set up to build a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan through Afghanistan because of falling oil prices.

Unocal had suspended its participation in the project three months ago after the American missile attacks on sites in Afghanistan.

A Unocal spokesman said the company would only rejoin the project if there was peace in Afghanistan and its government was recognised by the United Nations and the United States.

He said Unocal has now closed its offices in all the Caspian littoral states, except Azerbaijan, and withdrawn from another energy project in the region.