The United Arab Emirates will accelerate the construction of a new oil pipeline to double its export capacity through Fujairah by 2027, vastly expanding its ability to bypass Hormuz Strait.
This was announced today by the Abu Dhabi Government Media Office (ADMO).
Abu Dhabi’s Prince Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed bin Zayed instructed the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)to speed up the East-West Pipeline project during an executive committee meeting, the ADMO added, clarifying that this pipeline is under construction and is expected to start operating in 2027.
The ADMO did not disclose the initial timeline for the project.
Through the existing Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP), also known as the Habsan-Fujairah pipeline, up to 1.8 million barrels per day can be transported and this has proved vital as the country seeks to maximise direct exports from the Gulf of Oman coast.
The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the only producers of Gulf oil with pipelines carrying the crude out of the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman coast. Tthe narrow sea passage between Iran and Oman has been effectively blocked by Iran in response to the US-Israeli war against it that began on February 28, draining about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies normally transported to Asia and elsewhere.
Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar and Bahrain depend almost entirely on the strait for transport.
Energy prices have risen because of the disruption to supplies, prompting governments to ration fuel supplies and reinforcing fears of an economic downturn as inflation rises.
