The feasibility study will begin in the first quarter of 2020 and will be completed in a year’s time. If the study is found practical, the project will be laid undersea within three to four years. 

The pipeline will begin from the Arabian Gulf and stretch up to Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It will ultimately end in China after touching Myanmar and Thailand. The total cost of the pipeline is estimated to be around $20 billion to25 billion. 

The pipeline will pass through shallow waters of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, according to the media reports. It will be provided security from Pakistan’s navy. 

Both Pakistan and India have separately signed an agreement with Russia for the undersea pipeline project. With that, both countries will receive gas through the pipelines. It is estimated that Pakistan will get up to  1 billion cubic feet per day gas from the undersea pipeline, the media reports said. 

Russia has already established an agreement with Pakistan on the North South Gas Pipeline project. It is estimated to cost $2 billion to 2.5 billion. In addition, Gazprom has shown significant interest in building gas storages in Pakistan. The investment is anticipated to reach $400 million to 500 million, the reports said. 

Gazprom has had a 45 year-on-year drop in net profits in the third quarter of 2019. The reason for low profits was attributed to falling gas prices and sales volumes in Europe. 

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