Construction of the West-East Pipeline is about half complete and being pushed toward 2027, according to the head of state oil giant ADNOC
The United Arab Emirates has completed about half of a new crude oil pipeline designed to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, with the project being accelerated toward a planned 2027 launch, according to Reuters.
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of state-owned oil company ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company), told a May 20 Atlantic Council event that construction of the West-East Pipeline, fast-tracked by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan to double export capacity through Fujairah, is “almost 50% complete.”
Al Jaber said global oil flows may take at least four months after the end of the Iran war to recover to 80% of pre-conflict levels and are unlikely to fully normalize before the first half of 2027.
After the late-February U.S.-Israeli strikes, Tehran largely closed the Strait of Hormuz to foreign shipping, allowing passage mainly to Iran-approved vessels, while attacking or threatening ships to enforce control over the waterway. Washington later imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.