Fujeirah pipeline is fully safe

A major pipeline constructed across the UAE to export crude through the eastern port of Fujeirah and sidestep the perilous Hormuz Strait is fully safe as it totally situated within the country’s territory, according to a local think-tank.

The project is not limited to the construction of a pipeline alone but includes setting up of eight oil storage tanks near the Port of Fujairah, with a storage capacity of about eight million barrels of oil, which is strategic stockpile ensuring permanent availability of oil close to the port, the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) said.

It said this can be used to load tankers in case temporary interruptions to oil flow, especially in times of maintenance or emergency breakdowns.

“Another benefit of the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline is that it extends across the UAE’s territories from the production fields near the west coast to its end at the Port of Fujairah. It is located entirely within the boundaries of the UAE and this enhances its strategic importance and gives it full security immunity,” it said.

“Another advantage related to this is that the pipeline is a hundred percent land-line and no part of it passes under water. This unique factor makes it easy to access and maintain the pipeline at low cost without encountering any difficulty compared to pipelines that go through bodies of water.”

ECSSR said that with such major advantages that will ensure steady flow of crude out of the OPEC member, the pipeline has become an important milestone for the country’s economy and its overall development plans.

“It has become one of the vital mechanisms which the country has managed to add to its economic development program in recent times…….this vital project will help the country get significantly close to its objective of sustainable growth and economic prosperity,” it said.

“It also adds a new dimension to the UAE’s status, its will power, the accuracy of its planning, right decision-making and proper investment of its resources for the benefit of the present and future of the country.”

Last week, the UAE announced the inauguration of the Habshan-Fujairah Pipeline project to transport oil from Abu Dhabi to Fujeirah in the Gulf of Oman.

The pipeline is aimed at expanding the available alternatives to export the UAE oil to consumer markets around the world instead of depending on a limited number of export options. The step is of “strategic and vital importance” for the oil sector in particular and for the country in general, ECSSR said.

“The pipeline will be a vital channel in ensuring stable and sustainable flow of the UAE oil to world markets and will help achieve the country’s immediate and long-term goals, both in the scope of its oil sector and within the framework of its comprehensive economic and development performance. The pipeline’s significance lies in the various important advantages it brings to the country.”

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