Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) confirmed this week that it is considering a plan to build an LNG plant in the emirate of Fujairah, located strategically outside the Strait of Hormuz maritime chokepoint. Such a project would be the UAE's third LNG plant and its first not exposed to transit through the strait. It would also represent a major shift from Adnoc's previous decision, in 2023, to discard separate plans to export LNG from Fujairah. The change is driven by the stark geopolitical realities facing Mideast Gulf exporters impacted by the US-Israeli war with Iran. With Tehran tightening its grip on Hormuz, the UAE has made it a national priority to aggressively pursue bypass strategies, boosting connections between the energy and industrial hubs in the west with its less-developed eastern coastline. Adnoc Gas CFO Peter van Driel said this week there is an ongoing high-level feasibility study for a Fujairah LNG plant, appearing to confirm reports by Energy Intelligence in June that a 4 million ton per year LNG facility was under consideration. The major gas bypass project, if it proceeds, will join a host of other energy schemes with outlets in Fujairah. They include the 1.5 million barrel per day West-East Pipeline from the oil storage depot at the port of Jebel Dhanna — a pipeline project that was already under construction before the current war but that has now been fast-tracked — and a mooted refined products line. They would join the existing 1.8 million b/d Adcop oil pipeline. There are exploratory efforts to expand oil storage capacity at Fujairah, in addition to the development of an east coast export hub for Borouge, Adnoc's petrochemicals subsidiary. Rerouting oil exports is easier than the time- and capital-intensive process of developing new gas pipelines and liquefaction capacity. "LNG exports in the Northern Emirates have been in discussion for the last 10 years, but for various reasons it's never gone beyond feasibility studies," a source familiar with the UAE project landscape told Energy Intelligence. "Politics, funding, constraints on domestic gas pipelines have all been issues with LNG export from the north."