Senior oil officials from six Gulf Arab states approved on Tuesday the first phase of a feasibility study on a long-standing project to link their countries’ gas networks at a cost of more than USD 1 billion. The study, when completed, will be submitted to the countries and to various (international) companies to see if they are interested in it. The second phase of the study, which is being carried out by the Doha-based Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consultancy (GOIC) would likely be completed by year-end. GOIC has estimated the project to cost between USD 1.6 billion and USD 2 billion. The study is the basis for launching the project either by the GCC states, the private sector or as a joint venture between GCC states, the private sector and foreign companies. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a political and economic alliance grouping Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The GCC gas grid was first proposed by GOIC in the mid-1990s. It aims to transport Qatar’s North Field gas in the first stage to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The pipeline would be extended to other Gulf Arab states in the second stage.
