India steps up efforts to bring C Asia closer

[ajtr]

India steps up efforts to bring C Asia closer

While marking the 65th year of India's Independence, 2012 has acquired considerable relevance on the global scene. It also observes the 20th anniversary of the erstwhile Soviet Union's collapse, and the birth of many Central Asian countries that are of strategic importance to India.
Meanwhile, India is reworking its Central Asian policy to woo several countries in the region, hoping it would be able to make up for lost time in the resource-rich Central Asia – where the Chinese have made huge inroads.

Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan, which are in the neighbourhood of Afghanistan, are on the same page as India. As part of its security and military ties with the country, which shares 1,206-km and 414-km boundaries with Afghanistan and China respectively, New Delhi has taken over an air base called Ayni. It is also planning to upgrade the military hospital there.

"We have close contact with Central Asian countries in the neighbourhood of Afghanistan," an official said, adding that occurrences in Afghanistan have direct security implications for India. And with the deadline for withdrawal of US troops nearing, interactions with the former Taliban-ruled country have become more frequent.

India hopes that its Connect Central Asia Policy would provide much-needed impetus to tie-building measures. While the main focal areas for expanding its Central Asia footprint are trade, transit, capacity building and agriculture, India is well aware that the region has immense potential in hydro power as well as mining. The key countries in the region include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Plans are afoot to establish 14 direct flights between India and five Central Asian countries to boost tourism, trade and commerce. However, despite these efforts, India still has a long way to go before it can match other superpowers on the scene. While India's trade with Central Asia accounts for $500 million, the figures on the Chinese and American charts amount to a whopping $29 billion and $26 billion

 

[Hello_10]

India steps up efforts to bring C Asia closer

While marking the 65th year of India's Independence, 2012 has acquired considerable relevance on the global scene. It also observes the 20th anniversary of the erstwhile Soviet Union's collapse, and the birth of many Central Asian countries that are of strategic importance to India.
Meanwhile, India is reworking its Central Asian policy to woo several countries in the region, hoping it would be able to make up for lost time in the resource-rich Central Asia – where the Chinese have made huge inroads.

Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan, which are in the neighbourhood of Afghanistan, are on the same page as India. As part of its security and military ties with the country, which shares 1,206-km and 414-km boundaries with Afghanistan and China respectively, New Delhi has taken over an air base called Ayni. It is also planning to upgrade the military hospital there.

"We have close contact with Central Asian countries in the neighbourhood of Afghanistan," an official said, adding that occurrences in Afghanistan have direct security implications for India. And with the deadline for withdrawal of US troops nearing, interactions with the former Taliban-ruled country have become more frequent.

India hopes that its Connect Central Asia Policy would provide much-needed impetus to tie-building measures. While the main focal areas for expanding its Central Asia footprint are trade, transit, capacity building and agriculture, India is well aware that the region has immense potential in hydro power as well as mining. The key countries in the region include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Plans are afoot to establish 14 direct flights between India and five Central Asian countries to boost tourism, trade and commerce. However, despite these efforts, India still has a long way to go before it can match other superpowers on the scene. While India's trade with Central Asia accounts for $500 million, the figures on the Chinese and American charts amount to a whopping $29 billion and $26 billion

India needs to understand that Iran would be the prime source of energy, mainly less polluting Gas through possibly sea route as its now cheap to have a pipeline through sea route. and Central Asia would be the main source of metals/minerals including Coal/Uranium of Kazakhstan etc, who all are on the closest geographical proximity to India also and have lesser labor costs than other mineral rich countries like Australia, means certainly cheaper mining in Central Asia and hence lesser price also. and all these future source of energy/metals/minerals will come from the ChahBahar Port of Iran, which India itself developed.......

thats why I said that Iran+Central Asia would would placed as friend number 2 of India, after Russia with whom India has all the defense/space research/nuclear reactor contracts. rest, India would only stick with the norms of WTO and keep kicking those western b@astards who only want to give losses to India

(like how we find so many dramas in NSG regarding reprocessing techs with nuclear reactors and still India has only Russia who would stand on its words otherwise no one can guarantee, how long the France will stand on the terms they signed with India.... like, Russia may share all the techs of 5th gen aircrafts/SU30mki/stealth submarines/T90s etc with India which is certainly not possible from any western country.... )

New deep-water pipeline concept reduces cost but not safety
January 23, 2012

DNV has developed a new pipeline concept, called X-Stream, that can significantly reduce the cost of a deep- and ultra-deepwater gas pipeline while still complying with the strictest safety and integrity regime. X-Stream is based on established and field-proven technologies which have been innovatively arranged.

X-Stream can reduce both the pipeline wall thickness and time spent on welding and installation compared to deep-water gas pipelines currently in operation. The exact reduction in the wall thickness depends on the water depth, pipe diameter and actual pipeline profile. Typically, for a gas pipeline in water depths of 2,500 m, the wall thickness reduction can be 25 to 30 per cent compared to traditional designs.

“It’s essential for DNV that the new concept meets the strict requirements of the existing safety and integrity regime, and I’m pleased to confirm that this concept does,” says Dr. Henrik O. Madsen, DNV’s CEO, who announced the news at a press briefing in London last week.

“DNV has been instrumental in developing and upgrading the safety and integrity regime and standards for offshore pipelines over the past decades. Today, more than 65 per cent of the world’s offshore pipelines are designed and installed to DNV’s offshore pipeline standard. As the deep-water gas transportation market will experience massive investments and considerable growth over the coming years, new safe and cost-efficient solutions are needed,” Dr Madsen addsed.

Current deep-water gas pipelines have thick walls and, due to quality and safety requirements, the number of pipe mills capable of producing the pipe is limited. When installing pipelines, the heavy weights are difficult to handle and the thick walls are challenging to weld. And finally, the number of pipe-laying vessels for deep-water pipelines is limited too.

New offshore oil and gas fields are being developed in deeper and deeper waters and export solutions for the gas are critical. New exploration activities are also heading for ultra-deepwaters. The distance to shore is increasing too. The X-Stream concept can for such fields represent an alternative to, for instance, floating LNG plants combined with LNG shuttle tankers.

By controlling the pressure differential between the pipeline’s external and internal pressures at all times, the amount of steel and thickness of the pipe wall can be reduced by as much as 25-30 per cent - or even more compared to today’s practice and depending on the actual project and its parameters. This will of course make it easier and cheaper to manufacture and install the pipeline.

“By utilising an inverted High Pressure Protection System – i-HIPPS – and inverted Double Block and Bleed valves – i-DBB – the system immediately and effectively isolates the deep-water pipe if the pressure starts to fall. In this way, the internal pipeline pressure is maintained above a critical level for any length of time,” explained Asle Venås, DNV’s Global Pipeline Director.

The new concept is simple and reliable. During installation, it is necessary to fully or partially flood the pipeline to control its differential pressure. During operation, the i-HIPPS and i-DBB systems ensure that the pipeline’s internal pressure can never drop below the collapse pressure – plus a safety margin. In sum – a certain minimum pressure will be maintained in the pipeline at all times.

“It will also be important to maintain the minimum pressure in the pipeline during pre-commissioning. This can be done using produced gas separated from the water in the pipe by a set of separation pigs and gel. This technology is not new to the industry. This method has already been initiated as standard practice by several oil companies,” said Mr Venås.

A team of mainly young engineers, headed by DNV in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is behind the X-Stream concept. As with the other DNV concepts launched in 2010 and 2011, the X-Stream team was asked to think outside the box.

The DNV study is a concept study, and a basic and detailed design will need to be carried out before the X-Stream concept is realised on a real project. DNV intends to work further with the industry to refine and test the concept.

“I’m pleased to announce the outcome of this innovation project. At DNV, we feel confident that, by further qualifying the X-Stream concept, huge financial savings can be made for long distance, deep-water gas pipelines without compromising pipeline safety and integrity,” concluded Dr Madsen.

New deep-water pipeline concept reduces cost but not safety - Offshore Shipping Online