On Tuesday, July 3, an Abu Dhabi oil official said a pipeline the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is building to pump oil from east coast terminals and bypass the Strait of Hormuz will be fully operational in August.
Ali Jarwan, CEO of Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co ADMA-OPCO, added that the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, which will carry oil from fields in Abu Dhabi on the Persian Gulf to Fujairah on the Sea of Oman, is “approaching the phase of continuous operation.”
Construction of the 360-kilometer (225 mile) pipeline began in 2008 and it will have an initial capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day which will gradually rise to 1.8 million barrels per day.
Mohammad Hassan Asferi, member of Iran Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, noted on Sunday that the small area of UAE, limited oil transfer capacity of the pipeline and its inability to meet the world oil demands are the major reasons that will cause the plan’s failure.
“The [Habshan-Fujairah] pipeline project is only propaganda and political maneuvering guided by the Western countries especially the United States which aims to reduce the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz,” Asferi said.
The lawmaker noted that the pipeline can only cover the UAE’s domestic oil production.
“About 16-20 percent of the total world oil production currently crosses the Strait of Hormuz and finding alternative ways to handle this amount of oil and gas is unimaginable, but Arab countries of the Persian Gulf repeat this hypothesis every once in a while,” Asferi added.
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