Iran is set to sign a deal with South Asia Gas Enterprise Ltd., aka SAGE, to export gas to India through the longest subsea gas pipeline, Alireza Kameli, managing director of National Iranian Gas Export Company, said Saturday.
According to the official, the 3,000-km-pipeline, 1,400 km of which will be laid under the sea, is projected to cost $5 billion.
Moreover, sanctions removal will help attract investment for such a megaproject, which is due to be completed in three to four years, IRNA reported.
As momentum for completing the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, also known as the Peace Pipeline, or IP pipeline, has slowed due to Pakistan's funding problems, Indians have shown interest in building a separate pipeline with exclusive access to Iran's gas. If so, India will not be dependent on Pakistan regarding gas import.
Based on preliminary agreements, in the first phase of the project, 31 million cubic meters of gas will be exported to India per day.
In the quest for India's energy security, SAGE is undertaking a path-breaking project, to build the deepest underwater transnational gas pipeline.
Also known as "Middle East to India Deepwater Pipeline", it will connect the gas-rich Persian Gulf and Middle East regions to India, for the transportation of natural gas.
SAGE is working with a global consortium of some of the most reputed companies in the field of deepwater pipelines to create a multibillion-dollar energy corridor that can transport gas from the Middle East to India, bypassing the land route through Pakistan.
The sea route, which is outside Pakistan’s exclusive economic zone, will be capable of transporting up to 1.1 billion cubic feet (31.1 million cubic meters) per day of gas from Chabahar in Iran and Ra’s al Jifan in Oman to Porbandar in the Indian state of Gujarat, with a spur line to Mumbai later.
Currently, the longest underwater pipeline is that of the Norway-UK, with an approximate length of 1,200 kilometers.
Iran has close to 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, which is around 18% of the total global natural gas reserves. This means Iran has the potential to become a major player in the natural gas market when the sanctions are lifted by the yearend.
Iran's strategic location can help meet the growing natural gas demand of Asian countries like India, China and Pakistan, and is therefore planning a number of gas pipelines to boost exports. India and Pakistan present the most promising market for gas exports in the medium term, but even Europe is not out of reach in the longer-term.
Although Iran has one of the highest global natural gas reserves, it currently contributes just 1% to the total global natural gas trade with almost 90% of its natural gas exports going to Turkey, while the remainder goes to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
