INTERVIEW ON OMAN INDIA
MULTI POURPOSE PIPELINE BY OFFSHOREWORLD MAGAZINE
Dr. Ajay Kumar, Chairman & Managing Director
Fox Petroleum Limited
Qns. 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 through 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 worldwide 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 connecting
countries has to give approval while Arabian Ocean and Fox Petroleum are the
third parties 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
others are doing. It will be great if we can have more Pipelines 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; I am learning the art of living well and the art of
dying well under pressure of going to office to office; But I know, the greater
the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it; Oh Sorry, I am behaving
like a poet, but it is due to my love towards my Country and for this project;
Hope the Government will also reciprocate the same love to my love.
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 for crude
oil or petroleum products by pipeline is a fraction of the cost of other modes
of transportation. The cost to crude oil by ship or 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”. No
matter what conditions I encounter in life, my right is only to the works--not
to the fruits thereof. I should not be impelled to act for selfish reasons, nor
should I be attached to inaction. I mean efforts is my motto, result will be a
collection for “Juniors”.
About Fox Petroleum Limited
Fox Petroleum Limited
(www.foxpetroleum.net) is an associate company of Fox Petroleum FZC based in
United Arab Emirates; a part of Oil Asset 9.5 Billion USD Company with interest
in Oil and Gas sector including Power Generation and Distribution. It is
headquartered in New Delhi, India with offices in UAE and USA. Fox Petroleum
Group is engaged in various activities for development of Infrastructure
projects in India like construction of Government Buildings, SEZs, Highways,
and plan to extend further into construction Dams, Bridges, Flyover, Power
Plant, Oil Exploration and Oil Trading etc. since 2003. The Company's core
business philosophy is the responsible investment of speculative funds in the
petroleum sector. The strategy of the Company is to obtain early license
positions in frontier exploration areas either directly or through joint
venture arrangements to provide maximum value leverage on exploration success.
It has opened up new avenues for sourcing crude oil to the tune of 45 Million
bbl per month for 120 months from direct sources in UAE, Saudi Arabia any other
reputed sources.
No comments:
Post a Comment