Fox Petroleum proposes for 1st Oman-India Multi Purpose Pipeline with 100% FDI

Fox Petroleum Limited have proposed Government of India to build the Oman –India Multi Purpose Pipeline (OIMPP), a deepwater, transnational, natural gas pipeline system that will cross the Arabian Sea with 100% investment from foreign funding. The Project can be completed within 48 months and worth USD $5.6 Billion with (+ /-) 4% variation. Mr.Ajay Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director of Fox Petroleum Limited gave a detail oriented first level presentation to Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon'ble Petroleum Minister, Government of India at his office in Shashtri Bhawan, New Delhi on 25th March, 2015.  A dual sized, single, pipeline from the Oman coast near Ra’s Al Jifan would be linked to DUQAM onshore and  from Al DUQAM  to the Indian coast at Gujarat via a Mid line Re-compression Station situated on the Qualhat Seamount (Murray ridge).

During his presentation, Mr. Ajay Kumar, Chairman & Managing Director of Fox Petroleum Limited shared a comprehensive analysis of opportunity and challenges of setting up the innovative project and explained how it can contribute to energy need of the country. He said, “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. This 1600 KM Aprox OIMPP 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 1,300 km long in phase I and 300 Km more to connect Mumbai, laid at a depth of 3,400 meters below the seabed. It will connect the Middle East Compression Station near Oman with the receiving terminal near Gujarat. The estimated cost of this project is $5-5.6 billion and can be executed in about max to max five years. We have also arranged all required technical and financial requirements for the project including funding the project from our associate companies.”

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.             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, 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.