ADNOC, the UAE’s state oil company, is building the West-East pipeline, which will connect oil fields to the port of Fujairah. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed instructed ADNOC to accelerate construction to double export capacity by 2027.
“Today, the project is almost 50% complete, and we are accelerating its implementation toward 2027,” ADNOC CEO Sultan Al Jaber said.
He added that restoring global oil supply volumes to 80% of prewar levels after the end of the war with Iran could take at least four months.
“Today, too much of the world’s energy still passes through too few chokepoints. That is why more than a decade ago, the UAE made the decision to invest in infrastructure that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz,” the ADNOC chief executive said.
The existing Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, or ADCOP, which also runs to Fujairah and can transport up to 1.8 million barrels per day, has proved critically important for the UAE as it seeks to maximize oil exports from the Gulf of Oman coast outside the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters noted.
Al Jaber said the UAE had come under attack from more than 3,000 missiles and drones targeting civilian infrastructure, including ADNOC facilities.
He also warned that energy flows through the strait at pre-conflict levels are unlikely to fully recover before the first or second quarter of 2027.
The accelerated timeline for the new pipeline follows the UAE’s withdrawal from OPEC, Reuters reported.
Earlier reports said the UAE’s largest gas processing complex in Habshan, also owned by ADNOC, would be unable to return to full operation before 2027.