India-UAE oil pipeline to be built in the Arabian Sea to Gujarat-Maharashtra

Amid the Hormuz crisis, India is working on a new strategy to secure energy supply. Under this, an undersea oil and gas pipeline is being laid between India and the UAE. This was confirmed by Union Minister Piyush Goyal after meeting with UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi. The government has given priority to the undersea pipeline project from Oman-UAE to India. Under the MEIDP (Middle East to India Deep-Water Pipeline), the pipeline will start from the coasts of Oman and the UAE and pass under the Arabian Sea and reach the coasts of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Earlier, there was only a gas pipeline plan, but in June, the government declared this project as a private project. Initially, there was only a gas pipeline plan, but now a technical study has also started on the possibility of bringing crude oil through the sea route. On the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum, government companies are preparing a detailed report of the project. It will examine other aspects including technology, cost and safety of laying a pipeline in the deep sea. Why was this pipeline needed? India imports about 88% of its crude oil needs. Amid the tension in Hormuz, India wants to develop alternative routes for energy supply. More than half of the LPG and LNG in the country also comes from Qatar and UAE through the same sea route. The biggest engineering challenge in this project is laying the pipeline to a depth of about 3,450 meters in the sea. At this depth, the water pressure is very high. Safeguarding the pipeline, making a passage between the rocks and trenches and repairing them in the future will also be major technical challenges. Direct supply will reduce costs and dependence on ships Direct supply from the gas and oil reserves of Oman, UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia can reduce the dependence on marine ships. This can reduce the cost of transportation and insurance of oil and gas. The sudden increase in oil and gas prices in the international market can also reduce the pressure on India. South Asia Gas Enterprise, the company developing the 3 km pipeline test project, has laid the pipeline at a cost of about ₹25 crore. It is estimated that the entire project will take about 5 to 7 years to complete the construction after all the conditions are met.