finance
UAE to Complete Second Oil Pipeline Bypassing Strait of Hormuz by 2027
The United Arab Emirates announced it will finish a new pipeline to the port of Fujairah by next year, doubling its overland crude export capacity to roughly 3.6 million barrels per day. The project, previously undisclosed, comes as a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz approaches its 11th week, disrupting 20% of global seaborne oil and gas flows.
May 15, 7:28 AM·2m read3 sources
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The GuardianAudio version
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The United Arab Emirates will complete construction of a second oil pipeline bypassing the Strait of Hormuz by 2027, according to disclosures by the state oil company ADNOC. The project, which had not been previously made public, is intended to increase the country's export capacity through the port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman.
The existing Habshan-Fujairah pipeline has a capacity of up to 1.8 million barrels per day. The exact capacity of the new line has not been disclosed.
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan directed ADNOC to accelerate the project so that the pipeline can begin carrying oil by 2027. The decision follows the UAE's exit from OPEC after 60 years of membership. The Guardian reported that the new pipeline is expected to double the UAE’s export capacity via the existing Habshan-Fujairah pipeline.
ADNOC has not commented publicly on the precise reasons for the acceleration or on any specific link to current events in the Strait of Hormuz.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the only Gulf producers with pipelines that export crude outside the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia can transport roughly 7 million barrels per day to its Red Sea port of Yanbu, with 5 million barrels exported. The original Habshan-Fujairah pipeline has been operational for more than a decade.
No publicly released timeline in the disclosures indicates when construction of the second line began or whether it represents an entirely new route or an expansion of existing infrastructure.
