July 16, 2012 
A ship docks at the refueling station in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, May 30, 2012. The United Arab Emirates is nearing completion of a pipeline through the mountainous sheikdom of Fujairah that will allow it to reroute the bulk of its oil exports around the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, the path for a fifth of the world’s oil supply. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
The United Arab Emirates has launched an overland oil pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has threatened to shut down.
UAE Energy Minister Muhammad bin Dhaen al-Hameli, said on Sunday that the 400-kilometer-long pipeline connects the Habshan oil fields in the west with the eastern port city of Fujairah.
It is designed to carry up to 1.8 million barrels daily. That’s about 70 percent of the emirates’ current crude oil export per day.
Municipal officials in Fujairah welcomed the launch of the new pipeline. They say it has given them insurance against the possible shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.
The UAE is the second largest exporter of crude oil to Japan. Its oil had been exported from a port near the capital Abu Dhabi on the Persian Gulf and passed through the strait.
The Iranian government has threatened to block the strategic waterway in retaliation for western sanctions over its nuclear development. (*)
SOURCE : NHK
Posted Monday, July 16, 2012
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