UAE oil pipeline unable to bypass Strait of Hormuz: Iran MP

An Iranian lawmaker says the Strait of Hormuz plays a unique strategic role in international oil transfer and plans by the Persian Gulf Arab countries to bypass the strait are doomed.

On Tuesday, July 3, an Abu Dhabi oil official said a pipeline the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is building to pump oil from east coast terminals and bypass the Strait of Hormuz will be fully operational in August.

Ali Jarwan, CEO of Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co ADMA-OPCO, added that the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, which will carry oil from fields in Abu Dhabi on the Persian Gulf to Fujairah on the Sea of Oman, is “approaching the phase of continuous operation.”

Construction of the 360-kilometer (225 mile) pipeline began in 2008 and it will have an initial capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day which will gradually rise to 1.8 million barrels per day.

Mohammad Hassan Asferi, member of Iran Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, noted on Sunday that the small area of UAE, limited oil transfer capacity of the pipeline and its inability to meet the world oil demands are the major reasons that will cause the plan’s failure.

“The [Habshan-Fujairah] pipeline project is only propaganda and political maneuvering guided by the Western countries especially the United States which aims to reduce the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz,” Asferi said.

The lawmaker noted that the pipeline can only cover the UAE’s domestic oil production.

“About 16-20 percent of the total world oil production currently crosses the Strait of Hormuz and finding alternative ways to handle this amount of oil and gas is unimaginable, but Arab countries of the Persian Gulf repeat this hypothesis every once in a while,” Asferi added.

On July 2, 100 Iranian lawmakers signed a double-urgency motion to pass a legislation aimed at closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-led European Union embargoes on the country’s oil industry.

The US-led bans are meant to pressure the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program, which Washington, Tel Aviv and some western states claim includes a military aspect.

Iran dismisses such charges arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to use the nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.