Abu DhabiCrown Prince Sheikh Khaled ordered a second Fujairah bypass pipeline.
The existing Habshan-Fujairah route carries 1.8 million barrels per day, energy agency data show; the second doubles export capacity around Hormuz, which Iran closed in February.
The UAE pipeline targets 2027; cost and construction start remain unannounced.
Sources: Al-Monitor
THE CHOKEPOINT
Roughly a fifth of the world's oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz, a 33 km channel between Iran and Oman. The shipping lanes hug the Iranian side, where the water is deepest — which is why Iranian naval positioning matters disproportionately to global energy markets.
WHY BYPASSES EXIST
After the 1980s Tanker War, Gulf producers learned that a single naval incident could close the strait for weeks. Saudi Arabia built the East-West Pipeline across the peninsula to the Red Sea. The UAE built Habshan-Fujairah to the Gulf of Oman. Both routes share one purpose: deliver oil to a tanker that never enters Hormuz.
THE CAPACITY MATH
Gulf producers export roughly 17 million barrels per day through Hormuz. Existing bypass routes — the Saudi East-West line and Habshan-Fujairah — can divert about 7 million barrels per day combined. Most of the flow has no alternative, which is why a second UAE pipeline matters out of proportion to its volume.
THE FUJAIRAH ADVANTAGE
Fujairah sits on the Gulf of Oman, outside Hormuz. It is also the world's second-largest bunkering port after Singapore, with storage capacity exceeding 14 million cubic meters. Oil arrives by pipeline, gets blended and stored, then leaves on tankers bound for Asia without ever entering Iranian-patrolled waters.
WHAT INSURANCE DECIDES
Lloyd's of London war-risk premiums — not naval incidents themselves — are what actually close a shipping lane. Once premiums spike past a few percent of cargo value, commercial fleets reroute regardless of how many mines or missiles remain. A pipeline that lands oil at Fujairah lets cargoes load under peacetime premiums even when Hormuz is at war risk.