Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — The United Arab Emirates has been preparing to launch
operations of its new crude oil pipeline meant to bypass Iran’s powerful
navy.

Officials said the 360-kilometer pipeline would allow the UAE to export most of its oil without tankers passing through the Iranian-dominated Strait of Hormuz.

The officials said the pipeline would link the oil fields in Abu Dhabi to
the port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman.

“It will be operational in June,” Sheik Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, the emir of Fujairah, told Agence France-Presse on May 23.

Al Sharqi said the pipeline, which began construction in 2008, would
contain an initial capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day.

Al Sharqi said the pipeline’s capacity would soon reach 1.8 million barrels per day.

The UAE has been producing around 2.5 million barrels per day.

  360-kilometer pipeline, initial capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day, Pipeline bypassing Strait of Hormuz operational in June, Sheik Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi