Qns.1 In past, a lot of
transnational pipeline projects like TAPI, IPI, etc has proposed but still any
of the project is not seen any success so far. According to you, how important
it is to implement these kind transnational gas pipeline projects for India’s energy
security point of view?
Ans. Yes, You are right, these all were talked not
seen; There was only hurdle to do it whosever has planned the “NOC” to go ahead
on the subject; Besides that, it becomes the tool to settle the geopolitical
score; Let me not confuse you, must explain in my capacity and knowledge, what
Geopolitics is in this case; Geopolitics,” meant “the cram of how factors such
as geography and economics influence politics and relations between
nations.” Now it means politics among
(not just between) nations and rivalries for international power. A geopolitically successful nation delivers
on promises to allies and threats to rivals — or loses allies and strengthens
rivals. And, earlier weapon was Crude Oil now an added weapon to settle the
score is LNG between the Countries; The failure of some of them was due to the
Geopolitics in the region; You will get LNG supply if you are in good books of
the supplier country and the banking channels are open;
The
second most viable reason is – Security of the pipeline & regional
instability has long haunted the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India
(TAPI) project, first conceived 18 years ago, and that remains the main
obstacle to the pipeline becoming a reality.
Third
most and very important reason is –which has not been discussed anytime
anywhere, who will finance the project; One Country or the Consortium of
Countries who are going to be benefitted with this pipeline; So, far I am sure,
it was burden on one Country, that was the major cause for non implementation
on the ground;
As
far as my Country is concerned and the knowledge I have, I can say, if TAPI comes with full fledged
role to supply LNG to gas hungry energy market of India, no dought it will make
India – “NO DARK ZONE” as well as “FATTEN THE ECONOMY”. As you know carrying
LNG thru pipeline is less costly then ships; If TAPI would have conceived, it
would have given a reliability and stability in energy market – because then we
could have been depend on – Turkmenistan’s 618.1 trillion cubic feet of proven
natural gas reserves and as well as Iran’s 1,187.3 trillion cubic feet of
proven natural gas reserves;
Qns. Can you please
apprise us the detail plans like funding, foresee project duration & cost,
technology feature, consortium, sourcing & reaching points, landed cost of
LNG, etc of the Oman–India Multi-Purpose Pipeline (OIMPP) proposed by Fox
petroleum?
Ans. We at Fox Petroleum Group, has plans to build
the Oman –to- India Deepwater Multi Purpose Pipeline (OIMPP), a deepwater
transnational, natural gas pipeline system that will cross the Arabian Sea. The
OIMPP is anticipated to be the first of many in a corridor of pipelines that
will form the final leg of a major energy supply route linking the two
countries crossing the sea; Importing LNG is a rather costly process, but
unavoidable because the sources of gas are far away. This cost can be avoided
if gas is imported through pipelines and then transported across the country
through existing and future-planned pipelines in India.
In
the last few years, deep sea gas pipeline technology has matured. Since India
has serious security concerns with regard to pipeline projects over land, a
deep sea pipeline is probably the most promising option. OIMPP will be 1609 KM
Aprox. The project intends to transport 8 tcft (trillion cubic feet) of natural
gas to India over a period of 20 years. The pipeline is planned to be about
aprox 1,300 km long in phase I and 300 Km more to connect Mumbai, laid at a max
depth of 3,400 to 3500 metres below
the
seabed. It will connect onshore the Middle East Compression Station near Oman
with the receiving terminal near Porbander, Gujarat. The estimated cost of this
project is $5-5.6 billion and can be executed in about max to max five years.
Geographically,
the Oman-India Pipeline is comparatively more feasible because India is close
to the sources of natural gas in the Middle East and the undersea distance is
less than 1,300 km if connected to Gujarat coast only . Another reason in
favour of this project is the landed cost at Oman Point, which will be lesser
by $1.5 to $2 per million BTU as compared to LNG imports. Furthermore, this
pipeline could be linked to other natural gas sources in the Middle East and
even to Turkmenistan and Iran if need be. A single uniformly sized pipeline
from the Oman coast near Al Duqam near to Ra’s Al Jifan to the Indian coast at
Porbander, Gujarat.
Considering
the fact that known sources of natural gas in India till date is just 1.33
trillion cubic metres, India will need to source a major portion of natural gas
supply from outside to meet the rising demand. The government will need to make
planned efforts to find a lasting solution to the problem. The sooner the
government takes a serious view on the proposal, the better it will be in the
interest of the country to ensure its energy security.
A
boom in LNG demand and projects is taking shape in India. Demand for natural
gas, mainly from new power generation projects, fertilizer plants, and
industrial users, is projected to soar in the world's second most populous
nation. Its paltry domestic output of natural gas mandates that India must
import natural gas to meet it expected explosive growth in demand for the fuel.
While pipeline imports might seem a logical choice, this is a problematic
alternative. Hence, Oman-India Multi-Purpose Pipeline can solve the energy
demand in wholesale for next 25-30 Years; According to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration, this shortfall is expected to rise dramatically by
2020 and continue rising through 2030, when it will peak at 3.56 billion cubic
feet per day.
Final
proposed route map of OIMPP as decided by our team and it is a dual sized,
single, pipeline from the Oman coast near Ra’s Al Jifan will be linked to DUQAM
onshore and from Al DUQAM to the Indian coast at Gujarat; You will see
the - Impact of the Line Oman–India – Multi-Purpose Pipeline on India – “It
will be a known as GAS HIGHWAY, and will make India ‘No Dark Zone’”.
For
the implementation, we have undergone thru vast study, we have thought about
four possible cases of laying the pipeline with calculation the CAPEX and OPEX
of the project; But finally, still we are planning to go by our costlier plan
i.e. Plan – A (Excluding the plan B,C,D); Plan A- High Pressure (Dense Phase)
:This 42 inch (1067 mm) OD pipeline is a single compressor station
configuration. The pipeline inlet pressure is in the dense phase zone. After
processing and passing through the first stage scrubber, the lean gas pressure is raised from 4.24 to 9.122 MPa
(615 to 1323 Psia), then cooled to 37.8 ˚C (100 ˚F). The gas is compressed
further in the second stage to 19.623 MPa (2846 Psia). The high pressure
compressed gas is cooled back to 37.8 ˚C (100 ˚F) and then passed through a
separator before entering the long pipeline. And the CAPEX of this will be :
USD $ 5165.95 Million Dollar plus Power station cost for 105.7 MW + all other
sub station cost : USD $ 238 Million Dollar along with ±5% of the project cost
i.e USD $5.6 Billion Dollars Approx;
We
assure and ensure you that project will never get shortage of finances and
material to be used in this project; The project worth calculated is USD $ 5.6
Billion with ± 5%; We have arrangements of funds to follow the project in
timely manner and at targeted date; We will not expect any subsidy from the
Government of The Sultanate of Oman as well as Government of the Republic of
India for this project and we will abide and follow all norms as a general
company rules; And, most likely, we will not take any loan from any Indian
Private or Public Sector Banks; That means, it will be funded from our
associate companies world wide against their Oil Collateral and foreign lenders
like banks have also agreed in principally to fund the project, which has been
arranged with back up of funding one and back up funding two, that is same
amount from two more sources against the reserves of petroleum products;
Qns. How
do you compare this deepwater pipeline with other onshore pipelines like TAPI
& IPI?
Ans. Hassel free, safe and secure; The two
country has to give approval and Arabian Ocean and Fox Petroleum are the third
party to this project;
Qns. While SAGE group
had proposed the same kind of deepwater transnational pipeline from Middle East
to India, how do you think the OIMPP is more feasible option?
Ans.
We have nothing to say what other’s are doing, it will be great if we can have
15 Pipeline in Arabian Ocean to Connect Oman and India; But, we are going to
use our HEAD and HUT (i.e. Brain and Life’s all secured and unsecured assets)
to complete this project; This makes it different from other’s; I want to do
it, because I wanted to be named THE NUMBER ONE LOVER OF MY NATION; I love my
India and YOU=The Indians, that has forced me to think about it;
Qns. What is the
technology aspect of this deep-sea pipeline project, while India has lack the
ability of deepwater pipeline technology?
Ans.
We are going to use – Foreign Companies for this – like we have planned to give contract of
supply to European & Chinese Companies for Pipe supply; We have a plan to use
Two Onshore Pipeline Companies for two coasts; And two Offshore for both side
shelf level laying and three in deep water; And a separate company will be used
for power and compression station; So, now you can say we will deliver the
world if given an opportunity – THE GAS HIGHWAY;
Qns. Indian is now more
serious on transnational pipeline projects whether it is onshore or offshore.
Do you think the new government has plans to encourage such kind of projects?
What kind of response so far from the government towards the OIMPP?
Ans.
We have visited the petroleum ministry and we have been said work hard; But we
have written letter to Petroleum Minister of Oman and met Ambassador of Oman in
India and updated the status and our plan;
Qns. How will the proposed
pipeline project will open doors for India in sourcing crude or natural gas
from other gas-rich producers of the Gulf, Middle East and potentially Central
Asia?
Ans.
India can tap at least permanent solution of gas; That much I can say now; The
cost to transport crude oil or petroleum products by pipeline is a fraction of
the cost of other modes of transportation. The cost to ship crude oil by rail
is generally $10 to $15 per barrel versus under $5 per barrel by pipeline. LNG Transportation cost fixed $1.5/MMBtu that
is too cheap to control the price; as per Indian requirement of USD $
8.0/MMBtu; We will transport, other petroleum gases from the same pipeline as
per calender booking of the year; Project will have 8 Contractors working at
one time; For Onshore Two Contractors; For SHELF level Offshore Two
Contractors; Two Contractors for Deepwater Pipeline laying; And One for Onshore
Project Management Consultant and One for Offshore Project Management
Consultant; And one for Power and Compression Station in addition; Oman
Government is enthusiastic as per the sourced information, but waiting for the
approval of Government of India for a “YES”.
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