As the war between Iran and the United States continues to push the world towards an energy crisis, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is working to double its export capacity of crude oil by dodging the Strait of Hormuz, which effectively remains under Iran’s control currently.
According to a statement shared by the UAE’s media office, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) is working towards boosting the capacity of its Fujairah port on the Gulf of Oman by constructing a new pipeline that runs to this port.
The statement said that the work for the construction of the pipeline will be accelerated so that the UAE‘s export capacity of crude oil can be doubled by 2027. Currently, ADNOC operates a pipeline with the capacity of around 1.5 million barrel-a-day from its oil fields to Fujairah port. However, that is less half of the oil firm’s total export capacity, reported Bloomberg.
Also read: PM Modi landed, signed key deals, left UAE — all in 2 hours | Full list of pacts
When Iran took control of the Strait of Hormuz during its war with the US, it was UAE’s Fujairah port which came to the country’s rescue to keep the crude export ongoing. Strait of Hormuz is a key trade waterway that controls a fifth of the world’s oil supply.
As the Strait of Hormuz remains choked due to ongoing tensions in the area, only the UAE and Saudi Arabia have managed to export oil in significant quantities by evading the key trade waterway. Their other Gulf neighbours — Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, and Bahrain — almost completely rely on the Strait of Hormuz to take their shipments out.
Track live updates of West Asia conflict here
UAE’s decision to speed up the construction of the new pipeline also comes month after leaving the global oil body Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), after which, it can now make decisions about its oil production and exports independently.
With this new-found independence, the UAE now plans to increase its production and exports capacity to meet the enhanced global oil need triggered by the West Asia conflict.
PM Modi visits UAE
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the UAE for a short trip that lasted for two hours. During the visit, India and UAE signed multiple key pacts including for Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply and petroleum reserves.
The two nations also signed agreements on defence and setting up of ship repair cluster in Gujarat’s Vadinar.
(With inputs from Bloomberg, Reuters)
