Iran and its southern neighboring country Oman are expected to reach a final agreement on an offshore pipeline project to supply Iranian gas to the littoral state by the end of June, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh announced on Wednesday.
“The deal will be finalized in two stages: The first of which is planned to be concluded by the end of May and the second part is going to be signed by the end of June,” Zanganeh was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Zanganeh paid a visit to the sultanate on Thursday to pursue talks with his Omani counterpart Mohammad bin Hamad al-Rumhi in Muscat.
Expressing satisfaction with the progress made in bilateral talks, the top Iranian oil official said the concluded parts of the deal were signed by the two sides in the meeting, hoping that the final agreement would be reached as scheduled.
Asked about speculations that Oman would turn to extracting its own natural gas resources instead of importing Iran’s gas in the event of a further delay of the agreement, Zanganeh ruled out the speculations, saying negotiations with Omani officials show the opposite is true.
In February last year, Tehran and Muscat signed a preliminary agreement on the pipeline project that is estimated to cost $1.2 billion.
Based on an earlier agreement in 2013, Oman would take in 28 mcm/d of gas from Iran for 15 years. The two nations hope the gas flow will begin by 2020, Shana reported.
Hamidreza Araqi, the chief executive officer of the National Iranian Gas Company, said in January that according to negotiations between Tehran and Muscat, Iran will carry out the onshore section of the gas pipeline and the country is ready to begin work on the project.
Plans call for stretching existing pipeline infrastructure by nearly 200 kilometers to transfer gas from the port city of Asalouyeh in the Persian Gulf to Kouhmobarak in Hormozgan Province by the Sea of Oman. From there, a subsea pipeline will be laid to Oman's Sohar Port.
The sultanate could import as much as 20 billion cubic meters a year of Iranian gas, or more than 50 mcm/d, to meet demand.
The pipeline will circumvent the maritime boundary of the UAE "because the Emiratis will not allow the pipeline to be laid in their territorial waters", according to Zanganeh.
The decision means the pipeline will be laid on parts of the Sea of Oman, which could go deeper than planned. The pipeline may be laid close to 1,000 meters below the sea's surface instead of the shallower UAE waters at around 300 meters.
