UAE accelerates Fujairah pipeline as North American liquids buildout hits eight completions
Abu Dhabi's push to double Hormuz bypass capacity by 2027 lands as US gas pipeline construction hits 31.6 billion ft3/d under way.
Abu Dhabi's crown prince announced on Friday (2026-05-15) that the UAE would accelerate construction of a new oil pipeline to double export capacity through Fujairah by 2027, the government's Abu Dhabi Media Office said. The move expands the country's ability to route crude around the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint through which roughly a fifth of global oil consumption flows.1
Eight petroleum liquids pipeline projects have been completed since the start of 2025, a pace reshaping how crude moves from production basins to export terminals across two continents. The UAE's existing Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, the Habshan-Fujairah line, can carry up to 1.8 million barrels per day and has proved crucial as the country seeks to maximise exports from the Gulf of Oman coast. ADNOC is targeting 5 million bpd of capacity by next year, a goal brought forward by three years.1
Saudi Arabia's 2019 experience gives the UAE's push concrete grounding. After attacks on processing facilities, Aramco ramped up its East-West pipeline to 7 million bpd in eight days, keeping about 60% of the kingdom's pre-war exports flowing. The UAE's energy minister told Reuters last year that the country could boost output capacity to 6 million bpd if necessary.1
The gap between current and target capacity is narrow on paper. The UAE said in May 2024 that capacity had reached 4.85 million bpd and has not provided an update since, leaving the final stretch of investment unverified. The acceleration of the new pipeline suggests the priority is getting more barrels to the Gulf of Oman coast, not just raising gross capacity numbers.1
ICE Brent crude front-month sat at $87.52/bbl on 2026-08-26, down 0.56%, while Dubai crude held at $90.10/bbl and the OPEC basket at $90.28/bbl. The spread between Brent and Dubai has stayed narrow enough to suggest the market is not pricing a near-term Hormuz disruption, even as Abu Dhabi presses ahead with bypass infrastructure.1
North American pipeline construction is running its own parallel expansion. EIA estimates the United States could add 44.9 billion ft3/d of pipeline capacity during 2026-27, with 31.6 billion ft3/d already under construction. About 29.7 billion ft3/d originates in Texas and another 8.4 billion ft3/d in Louisiana.3
The recently completed Matterhorn Express, a 580-mile pipe, has added 2.5 billion ft3/d of takeaway capacity from the Permian Basin, moving gas to the Katy Hub area near Houston. RBAC's 26Q2 GPCM Base Case projects US LNG exports more than doubling from 14.9 billion ft3/d in 2025 to 32.4 billion ft3/d by 2035, leaving producers little margin for bottlenecks in Texas.3
Canada is moving at a different pace. Pembina Pipeline Corp reported CAD 512 million ($364.61 million) in net income for the second quarter, up from CAD 417 million a year earlier, attributing the increase primarily to higher volumes. Canada has just 2.1 billion ft3/d of planned capacity for 2026, a fraction of the US buildout.2,3
The UAE's new pipeline carries a 2027 completion date, a timeline that implies Abu Dhabi expects Hormuz risk to persist. Barrels loading at Fujairah command premium pricing when the strait is under threat, and deepwater tanker access there avoids the shallow-draft constraints that limit other Gulf terminals.1
What traders need to verify is whether ADNOC's 5 million bpd target holds through next year. The company's last public capacity update was May 2024, at 4.85 million bpd. Until Abu Dhabi provides fresh numbers, the final stretch of investment remains opaque. Equipment orders and right-of-way approvals on the new Fujairah line will be the first concrete signal of whether the accelerated schedule survives contact with the ground.1