Adnoc to speed up West-East pipeline construction

• Company told to ‘accelerate delivery’
• Fujairah oil exports will double
• Existing pipeline pumps 1.5m bpd

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is fast-tracking the construction of a pipeline that will allow it to double the amount of oil it exports without using the Strait of Hormuz.

Adnoc is prioritising the second West-East pipeline, which will run to the port of Fujairah and is due to become operational next year. Fujairah lies on the Gulf of Oman, permitting the company to bypass the bottlenecked waterway.

“His Highness directed Adnoc to accelerate delivery of the project, as the company moves forward into a new phase of world-scale project execution to meet global energy demand,” a statement from the emirate’s media office said after the Adnoc board met Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The company already operates a 1.5 million barrel per day (bpd) pipeline to the east coast, which has been a lifeline for the UAE since the Iran war began at the end of February. The conflict has brought the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil supplies would typically flow, to a virtual standstill.

“The UAE’s planned expansion of crude export capacity through Fujairah is a practical and strategically important resilience measure,” said Nick Holland, head of risk engineering for India, the Middle East and Africa at Marsh.

“By adding crude lifting options, reducing reliance on constrained marine corridors and easing congestion around existing routes, it should support more reliable access to energy supplies and strengthen confidence in the UAE’s ability to sustain exports through periods of volatility.”

The announcement comes weeks after the UAE said it planned to ramp up oil production and announced it would quit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) after almost 50 years.

The UAE has said it wants to increase production from 3.4 million bpd to 5 million bpd by 2027. Coordinated cuts and quotas by the wider Opec+ group have capped production for years in a bid to raise oil prices.

• Crisis is a ‘call to double down’, says Adnoc Drilling CFO
• Abu Dhabi plans construction rush after quitting Opec
• Demand for oil severely outstrips supply, IEA warns

Fujairah has been targeted by Iran multiple times since the war began, including a strike earlier this month that caused a large fire in the emirate’s oil industry zone.

The International Energy Agency estimates that 84 energy facilities across Iran’s Gulf neighbours were damaged in the first wave of attacks in March and April, including 34 that suffered “serious or very serious” damage.

The cost of repairing war-damaged energy infrastructure across the Middle East – including Iran – could reach $58 billion, according to estimates from Rystad, and several key sites will take years to recover.