Saudi Arabia and UAE Pipelines That Bypass the Strait of Hormuz

Rising geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz have renewed focus on the limited alternatives Gulf producers have for exporting crude oil. Two major pipeline systems operated by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates provide rare overland routes that allow shipments to bypass the strategic chokepoint when maritime traffic faces disruptions.

Saudi Arabia operates the East‑West Crude Oil Pipeline, also known as Petroline, through state oil giant Saudi Aramco. The pipeline stretches roughly 1,200 kilometres from the Abqaiq processing hub in the kingdom’s eastern oil fields to the Red Sea export terminal at Yanbu. With a transport capacity of around 5 million barrels per day, the system enables Saudi crude to reach global markets via the Red Sea without transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Arab Emirates has developed a similar workaround through the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP). Running about 370 kilometres from the Habshan oil fields to the export terminal at Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, the pipeline can transport roughly 1.5 million barrels per day. Because Fujairah lies outside the Strait of Hormuz, the route allows the UAE to ship part of its crude directly into the Indian Ocean.

Despite their strategic value, analysts note that the combined capacity of these pipelines is far smaller than the roughly 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products that typically transit the Strait of Hormuz each day. As a result, a prolonged disruption in the waterway would still pose a significant risk to global energy supplies and could trigger sharp volatility in oil prices.