TotalEnergies will invest to expand Fujairah oil export pipeline in Abu Dhabi, CEO says

RoydadNaft – French oil major TotalEnergies will invest in expanding the ‌Fujairah oil export pipeline in Abu Dhabi and continue investing in the Middle East despite the Iran war, its CEO said on Monday at an energy conference in Norway.

Patrick Pouyanne has previously stated the importance of funding alternate pipelines for oil to ⁠leave the Middle East given the paralysis in the Strait of Hormuz — which normally handles transit for a fifth of global oil supply — during the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran.

“We are today probably the largest trader of oil from Iraq or from Qatar … and it’s clear to me that I need to put a certain amount of equity to invest in an alternative route,” Pouyanne said ‌at ⁠the ONS conference.

“We will become partners of the pipeline moving from Baghdad to Syria, but I will also invest in Abu Dhabi, in doubling the Fujairah pipeline,” he added.

The existing Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, also ⁠known as the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, can carry up to 1.8 million barrels per day and has proved crucial as the United Arab Emirates seeks ⁠to maximise exports from the Gulf of Oman coast, just outside the Strait of Hormuz.

The UAE hopes to double that export capacity by ⁠next year.