UAE fast-tracks second pipeline to double exports around Strait of Hormuz
The United Arab Emirates says it is fast-tracking construction of a second oil export pipeline to lessen dependence on the Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s actions highlighted how vulnerable Gulf oil transport is. At a meeting in Abu Dhabi, Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed directed Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to move ahead, with the West-East Pipeline expected to be completed next year.
Right now, the UAE relies mainly on the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, completed in 2012, which can move about 1.8 million barrels per day from western fields to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman. The new pipeline is intended to let the UAE export most of its current capacity over land-enabling shipments of roughly 3.2 million barrels per day-thereby reducing how much it must pass through Hormuz.
The article also notes ADNOC’s CEO criticized Iran for closing the strait and urged it to reopen without delay, arguing the closure drives up global economic costs.
The United Arab Emirates revealed that it was constructing a second pipeline to double its ability to export oil around the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz exposed the fragility of the Gulf States’ oil export infrastructure, grinding their ability to export the lifeblood of their economies to a halt. Aiming to reduce its reliance on the key waterway, the UAE revealed on Friday that it was fast-tracking construction of a second pipeline through its territory to circumvent the strait.
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At a board meeting on Friday, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed instructed the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the Emirati government said. The West-East Pipeline is now expected to be completed sometime next year.
The UAE currently relies on a single pipeline to surpass the strait — the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline — which was completed in 2012 and can transport up to 1.8 million barrels per day. The 235-mile-long pipeline transports oil and gas from the oil and gas-rich western regions, through the desert, to the port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman.
The new pipeline, if ADNOC’s estimates are correct, would allow the UAE to export its current full capacity by land — the country produces 3.2 to 3.6 million barrels per day under the former OPEC quota, an organization that it left at the beginning of the month. Even at an extended capacity, however, the new pipeline, allowing it to transport roughly 3.2 million barrels per day around the Strait of Hormuz, would drastically decrease its reliance on the strait.
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Earlier this week, ADNOC CEO Sultan bin Ahmed Jaber bashed Iran over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, demanding its reopening without conditions or delay.
“The world is already 1 billion barrels short, because of the closure of Hormuz. 1 billion barrels. That is the arithmetic of extortion. Every day the Strait is held hostage, the costs go up … for families, farms, factories and economies around the world,” he said in a post on X.
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