Iran, Oman to build pipeline for gas exports

Iran and Oman signed a deal on Wednesday to build a pipeline to carry 10 billion cubic meters of Iranian natural gas to Oman annually, Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh as saying. The two countries inked the deal on the sidelines of an official visit by President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani to Muscat, Oman’s capital. The pipeline - mainly sub-sea - is to carry natural gas from Rudan, a coastal city south of Iran, to Sahar, on the Oman side of the Strait of Hormouz. Little detail is available on when and how the construction project will develop. Minister Zangeneh said the two sides drafted an agreement to export Iranian gas to Oman seven months ago during a visit to Tehran by Oman?s Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said. "Oman will oversee the security of the natural gas facilities and Iran will finance the costs of the construction from its revenues of natural gas exports," said the minister. Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhi, Oman's Minister of Oil and Gas, told Oman's official news agency ONA that the project would start soon. The two countries have also signed agreements for cooperation over business, job creation and vocational training. Shia-majority Iran has strong energy, diplomatic and political ties with Oman – mostly Sunni, unlike its relations with other Gulf states like Saudi Arabia which sees Iran as a threat to its internal security and accuses it of seeking sectarian influence in the Middle East.