Adnoc Targets Additional Resilience With New Bypass Pipeline

22 May 2026 Issue: 69 / 21 By: Jamie Ingram

Investments in building resilience are paying off for the UAE, as alternative export routes for oil and other commodities through Indian Ocean ports at Fujairah and Khor Fakkan are keeping the economy afloat. “Resilience isn’t luck, it’s what you build before the attack,” Adnoc’s CEO said this week.

Crude oil exports from the UAE are running at around 60% of pre-conflict levels despite the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, thanks to the 1.8mn b/d Adcop pipeline that links onshore oil fields with the Indian Ocean export terminal at Fujairah. The pipeline, completed in 2012, is symbolic of the UAE’s investment in bolstering its resilience. Along with the rerouting of commodities such as petrochemicals and fertilizer exports – as well as imports – through the port of Khor Fakkan, the Adcop pipeline has been instrumental in keeping the UAE’s economy afloat through the conflict.

“Resilience may seem expensive until the day you need it, and when you need it, it becomes priceless,” Adnoc CEO Sultan al-Jaber said during an Atlantic Council discussion on 20 May. The value of the Adcop pipeline has never been more evident than this year, enabling crude oil exports to continue flowing despite the conflict. (CONTINUED - 1818 WORDS)