While the Strait of Hormuz is essentially a graveyard for ships, the UAE is quietly finishing a massive pipeline to bypass it altogether. They’ve already got it halfway done, which tells you everything you need to know about how long they think this war is going to last. They aren’t waiting for the U.S. or Iran to fix this; they’re just building a way around the mess so they can keep their cash flowing to the Gulf of Oman.
UAE says new pipeline that will bypass Strait of Hormuz is nearly 50% complete
The United Arab Emirates has built nearly 50% of a second pipeline that will bypass the Strait of Hormuz, said the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., or ADNOC, on Wednesday.
“Right now, too much of the world’s energy still moves through too few chokepoints,” Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said in an interview at the Atlantic Council.
The new pipeline will double ADNOC’s export capacity through Fujairah, a port that sits on the Gulf of Oman just beyond Hormuz. The UAE has accelerated the construction of the project due to the Iran war. The pipeline is expected to become operational in 2027.
Iran has blockaded Hormuz since early March, choking off the oil and gas exports of the UAE and the other Gulf Arab producers. The UAE has redirected some oil exports through an existing pipeline to Fujairah, which has a maximum capacity of 1.8 million barrels per day.