Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline
The Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (also called the ADCO pipeline) is a 380km pipeline running from Habshan in Abu Dhabi’s interior to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman coast, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz entirely. It has a capacity of approximately 1.5 million barrels per day — significant but far below the 20 million barrels per day that normally transit Hormuz. During the 2026 crisis the pipeline was operating at full capacity, providing some relief to UAE oil exporters but insufficient to substitute for the strait as a regional bypass route.
Connections
- Strait of Hormuz — the chokepoint this pipeline bypasses
- East-West Crude Oil Pipeline — Saudi Arabia’s equivalent bypass
- Oil Price Impact — partial mitigation factor for Gulf export disruption
- Shipping Disruption — reduced (but did not eliminate) Abu Dhabi’s exposure to the crisis