Competition intense for Burmese gas
India is pitted against China, South Korea and Thailand in the race to secure access to the huge gas reserves found in offshore Burma, the Press Trust of India reported from New Delhi yesterday.
While India, China and Thailand have proposed to lay pipelines to their respective countries for transporting gas from the Shwe gas field in the Bay of Bengal, South Korea has proposed liquefying it and transporting it in the form of liquefied natural gas, industry sources said.New Delhi has proposed laying a 1,400-kilometre Burma-India pipeline, originating at Sittwe in Burma, entering India through Mizoram and then passing through Aizawl, Dispur and Guwahati in Assam and Shiliguri in West Bengal to join the Jagdishpur-Haldia pipeline at Gaya in Bihar. China has proposed a 2,380km-long pipeline originating at Kyaukphyu and terminating at Ruili in China's Yunan province after passing through Pagun Tuywintanuag and Mandalay. Thailand has proposed a 1,100km pipeline. Burma is looking for a buyer that will pay the maximum price for the gas found in Block A-1 and in the adjacent A-3 block. In both blocks India's ONGC Videsh Ltd and GAIL hold a 30-per-cent stake. Sources said the Indian offer was attractive because the length of pipeline was shorter. For transporting gas to the Indian border, a pipeline of just 250km length would be required in Burma while to do the same to China or Thailand would require lines in Burma of about 1,000km.
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