The UAE is building a second major oil pipeline to the coast of Fujairah, aiming to functionally eliminate its need to ship crude through the Strait of Hormuz. The so-called West-East Pipeline is being fast-tracked for operations by 2027, a timeline that suddenly feels urgent given the regional conflicts that have choked the strait throughout 2026.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed personally directed the acceleration of construction during an executive committee meeting in May 2026.
What the pipeline actually changes
The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which roughly 20 million barrels per day flow. That’s about 20% of the world’s seaborne oil trade squeezing through a corridor you could almost see across on a clear day.
The UAE already has one bypass route: the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, also known as ADCOP or the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline. It moves approximately 1.5 to 1.8 million barrels per day from Abu Dhabi’s onshore fields directly to the port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, completely sidestepping the strait.
