June 2009 Vol. 236 No. 6

Projects

UAE To Build Crude Pipeline That Avoids Strait Of Hormuz

Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co., or IPIC, will start pumping oil through a new pipeline that will avoid the narrow Strait of Hormuz in 2011.

According to Dow Jones Newswires, Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co., or IPIC, will start pumping oil through a new pipeline that will avoid the narrow Strait of Hormuz in 2011. The 224-mile pipeline, known as Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, or Adcop, will transport up to 1.5 MMbop/d to Fujairah on the United Arab Emirates’ east coast and begin operations in August 2011.

Abu Dhabi, the largest U.A.E. sheikdom, plans to build the pipeline to bypass the Strait, the 33-mile-wide channel through which Persian Gulf oil producers ship their crude exports.

The crude oil will be sourced from the onshore Habshan field in Abu Dhabi. The emirate pumps 95% of the crude in the U.A.E., which is the third-largest oil producer in the Persian Gulf after Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The Adcop, project will also involve building storage and terminal facilities for the crude export from Fujairah, which is surrounded by the Hajar mountain range. A refinery project at the site is also being considered by IPIC.