Oman expects speedier completion of a planned pipeline to import natural gas from Iran now that international sanctions against Tehran have been lifted, the energy minister of the sultanate has revealed
With Iran sitting on one of the world’s largest gas reserves, Oman hopes that the gas will feed its energy-intensive industries and LNG export plants.
In 2013, the two countries had signed an agreement on gas supplies to Oman valued at US$60bn over 25 years. However, the project – which includes building a subsea pipeline – has stalled.
Oman energy minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy told Reuters, “I am very optimistic that now the sanctions have been lifted, the gas pipeline project will move in a faster track than before.
“We were facing lots of difficulties. Now we can order compressors, we can order pipes, seek consultancy help, we can talk to banks about financing. Things have changed. We think we can finish the front-end engineering design (FEED) in five months’ time,” Rumhy said.
The minister added that Oman may finish pipeline FEED by the end of Q2 2016 and begin the EPC work by Q1 2017. Oman hopes to start receiving Iranian gas by 2019.
The pipeline will have the capacity to carry 28.3mn cu/m of gas per day but that might be raised to 4.25mn cu/m to 56.6mn cu/m of gas per day because of high demand in the region, he said.
“I think this will help us to make Muscat a gas hub for Gulf countries. We can export and import gas and supply it to whoever wants to buy across the region. We would like to start thinking along those lines,” he said.
