Gas pipeline from Myanmar may be operational by 2010

Wed, 22 June 2005

THE PROPOSED gas pipeline from Myanmar to India could be operational in five years, an Indian government official said recently. “As matters stand, it will take one year for government clearances, another one year for the project’s financial closure, and a further three years for the construction of the pipeline, which would connect the two countries through Bangladesh,” India’s Petroleum Secretary Sushil Tripathi said.

India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar reached an agreement on the pipeline project earlier this year; the 290-km pipeline would cost $2 billion. India's current natural gas output of 80 million cum/d meets only about 70% of its demand, which is expected to increase to around 391 million cum/d by 2024-2025, according to Petroleum Ministry estimates. The country is also looking into obtaining gas from Iran through a 2,775-km pipeline via Pakistan, which Iranian energy officials have said could be operational by 2009. However, the United States is opposed to the $4-billion project, as it wants to use the pipeline issue to pressure Iran to end its nuclear programme, which Washington says is aimed at producing weapons. Pakistan also is eager for the project because it would also have access to the gas and earn an estimated $600 million a year in transit fees.