Kuwait is studying two crude export pipelines that would bypass the Strait of Hormuz, one running through the UAE to Fujairah and one through Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea, a senior Kuwait Oil Company official said.
Mohammed Al Abduljaleel, Kuwait Oil Company’s deputy CEO for planning and innovation, told EnterpriseAM that both projects are at an early stage.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has agreed with partners in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to conduct feasibility studies, Al Abduljaleel told Asharq Bloomberg, according to MEED. He said that does not amount to a final investment decision.
Both routes would start in Kuwait’s Ahmadi region. The first would follow the route of Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea coast. The second would follow the UAE’s Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, allowing exports from the Gulf of Oman coast outside the strait.
Costs and capacity have not been set. If approved, the pipelines would take around four to five years to build, Al Abduljaleel said.
He said Kuwait would pursue the projects as long-term investments regardless of whether regional tensions ease. Most crude would still move through existing Gulf ports under normal conditions, he said.
Kuwait’s crude output fell by 550,000 barrels per day to 1.49 million bpd in September, according to the International Energy Agency’s October Oil Market Report. Gulf crude exports overall rose by 4.4 million bpd to 13.9 million bpd in the month, more than 75% of pre-war levels, the IEA said.
Bypass routes carried 5.6 million bpd in September after the restart of Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, the agency said.
