UAE: Bypass pipeline around Strait of Hormuz nearly 50% complete

Authored by Evgenia Filimianova via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

The head of the UAE's state oil company said on May 20 that a major new oil pipeline designed to bypass the Strait of Hormuz is nearly 50 percent complete, as regional tensions and competing maritime controls reshape global energy routes.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, said during an interview at the Atlantic Council that the project is being accelerated toward a planned 2027 completion date.

"Right now, too much of the world's energy still moves through too few choke points." — Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber

"That is exactly why the UAE made the decision more than a decade ago to invest in infrastructure that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz," Al Jaber said.

Al Jaber said the UAE's second west-east pipeline is already "almost 50 percent complete."

The project comes as the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted following months of conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States.

The UAE said last week that it would accelerate construction of the pipeline to expand export capacity through Fujairah, a port city on the Gulf of Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz.

The country's existing Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, also known as the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, already allows the UAE to bypass Hormuz for a portion of its exports. The new project is expected to significantly expand that capacity.

Al Jaber warned that global energy systems remain vulnerable because too much oil and gas infrastructure depends on narrow maritime chokepoints.

"Energy security is no longer just about your ability to continue to produce," he said. "It is about routes, access, storage, and redundancy."

He said global spare oil production capacity remains dangerously low while energy storage levels continue falling.

"In just two months, the world drew down around 250 million barrels from storage," Al Jaber said. "We have 30 to 35 days of effective cover. We need to at least double that."

The comments followed warnings from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that oil markets could enter a "red zone" this summer if disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continue.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said on May 21 that more than 14 million barrels of oil per day had been removed from global markets because of infrastructure damage and restrictions linked to the conflict.

UAE Moves Beyond OPEC

The pipeline expansion also comes weeks after the UAE formally exited OPEC and the broader OPEC+ alliance.

The UAE announced on April 28 that it would leave the organization effective May 1, describing the move as a "sovereign responsibility in a new energy age."

Al Jaber said the decision would give the UAE greater flexibility to expand production and invest globally.

"Ultimately, real strength is not measured by the abundance of resources, but by how they are harnessed to serve the nation." — Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber

The UAE said ongoing instability in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz influenced the decision.

"Outside OPEC, the UAE will remain what it has always been, a disciplined, responsible, credible, reliable, and a stabilizing force in the global energy markets," said Al Jaber.

He also described relations between the UAE and the United States as increasingly integrated across energy, infrastructure, defense, and technology sectors.

Iran Expands Strait Oversight

The pipeline expansion coincides with Iran's efforts to formalize over...