UAE oil pipeline to be completed this year
27 Sep 2010
A $3.3-billion oil pipeline from Abu Dhabi's oil fields in the southwestern part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the eastern coast of Fujairah, bypassing the congested Hormuz strait is likely to be finished this year, UAE energy minister Mohammed Al Hamili said in Washington.
The 400-km Habshan-Fujairah oil pipeline being built by the state-owned International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) would provide direct access to the Indian Ocean to carry 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil.
The 48-inch diameter pipeline includes a 14-km submarine section, terminal stations, oil storage tanks, and off-shore mooring devices.
The narrow Hormuz strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, is in the territorial waters of Iran, Oman, and the UAE, which is a strategic choke point through which about two-fifths of all globally traded oil passes.
An average of around 15 tankers carrying 16.5 to 17 million bpd of crude oil, representing approximately 40-per cent of the world's seaborne shipments pass through the strait every day, according to the US EIA data.
It is feared that Iran could cut the oil exports from the region by blocking the Hormuz strait in case it is attacked by the US over its nuclear programme.
