We have been awarded a new feasibility study by South Asia Gas Enterprises (SAGE) to investigate the potential for a deep-water oil pipeline connecting the United Arab Emirates to India. The award comes at a moment of heightened urgency for Gulf energy infrastructure, as disruption to the Strait of Hormuz continues to expose the vulnerability of seaborne energy supply routes across the region.

The Strait of Hormuz crisis has thrown into sharp relief the fragility of Gulf oil supply routes. India is the world’s third largest crude oil importer, and while Russian purchases have grown significantly in recent years, around 40% of India’s crude imports still transit the Strait of Hormuz. The disruption has triggered immediate concern over supply continuity and price stability, and has crystallised the systemic risk inherent in a single maritime chokepoint for one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing oil consumers.

It is against this backdrop that Peritus International has been awarded the new study. We previously undertook the feasibility and pre-FEED engineering on the Middle East to India Deepwater Pipeline (MEIDP), which is being developed by SAGE. That work resulted in DNV approval of the technical feasibility and the development of a DNV-approved qualification plan for the next project phases. Peritus also developed the specification for, and supervised, the Reconnaissance Marine Survey of the route undertaken by SAGE, building deep technical insight into the geohazard challenges posed by the Owen Fracture Zone and the channel systems of the Indus Fan.

The new commission extends that analysis to oil. A gas pipeline at these depths already represents one of the most technically demanding infrastructure challenges ever attempted. An oil pipeline on the same corridor presents an even more complex set of engineering problems, requiring new thinking about pipeline design, installation methodology, and intervention requirements at extreme water depths.

Ian Nash Group Managing Director of Peritus International says “The Hormuz crisis has made clear that pipeline infrastructure in this corridor is no longer a long-term aspiration, it is a near-term strategic priority. Our work on MEIDP gives us a strong technical foundation for this new study, and we are well placed to address the engineering questions that a deep-water oil pipeline at this scale presents.”