The lifting of Western sanctions against Iran could open the door to more
imports of Iranian crude to India. Most importantly, it could also bring with
it an undersea pipeline project that would transport the oil to India through
the Arabian Sea, bypassing Pakistan, according to India’s Zeenews website.
“The Iran nuclear deal is going to open up more possibilities of importing
crude from Tehran, the quantities can be increased. It will also help to implement
two-three projects we are working on without any shadow of sanctions,” an
official source told the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS).
“Among the major projects we are eyeing is the SAGE undersea pipeline to
bring gas from Oman and Iran to India,” added the official, who spoke on the
grounds anonymity.
If and when implemented, the gas pipeline, which has been under discussion
for a decade, could see over 31m cubic metres of gas per day delivered to
India.
Subodh Kumar Jain, director of the South Asia Gas Enterprise (SAGE), told
IANS the Iran nuclear deal holds a lot of promise for getting the pipeline
project moving again.
Jain said the pipeline would avoid Pakistan`s underwater continental shelf
and is “very much doable”.
“India has been struggling to get pipeline projects off the ground for the
past 20 years, while China has several pipeline projects running. Now things
will certainly change, we`re getting good encouragement from the government,”
Jain told IANS.
Earlier this month, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the
Iranian President Hassan Rouhan while in Russia for the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) summit. The two men reportedly discussed increasing Iranian oil imports.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/undersea-gas-pipeline-to-bring-oil-from-iran-to-india/