Mohammed Al-Abduljaleel: KPC Studies Creating Pipelines Through Saudi Arabia and UAE
Mohammed Al-Abduljaleel: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation is studying the creation of two pipelines to transport crude oil through Saudi Arabia and the UAE to provide alternative routes away from the Strait of Hormuz
Translated by Qiyas from الراي — Original source
Al-Sharq Bloomberg – Mohammed Al-Abdulkareem, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Planning and Innovation at Kuwait Oil Company, stated that the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation is studying the construction of two pipelines to transport crude oil through Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a move aimed at providing alternative routes for its exports away from the Strait of Hormuz.
Al-Abdulkareem told Al-Sharq Bloomberg that the corporation has agreed with its partners in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to conduct feasibility studies for two separate projects originating from the Ahmadi area in Kuwait.
He noted that the first project, still under study, aims to build a pipeline to transport crude from Ahmadi to the Saudi coast on the Red Sea, via the East-West pipeline, which connects the kingdom’s oil-producing regions in the east to its western coast. The second project involves constructing a pipeline to transport Kuwaiti crude from Ahmadi to Fujairah, via the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline in the UAE, enabling oil access to the coast of the Sea of Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz.
He emphasized that both projects are still in very early stages, and the agreement to conduct feasibility studies does not constitute a final investment decision to proceed with implementation.
He said, “We are still in a very early stage of studying the projects. If we decide to proceed with the implementation of either, it will take four to five years to build them.”
This timeframe places the projects within a long-term strategy to enhance the resilience of Kuwait’s oil export system, rather than serving as an immediate solution to any disruption in maritime shipping.
The existing infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the UAE enables both countries to transport large volumes of crude to ports outside the Strait of Hormuz.
The full capacity of the Saudi East-West pipeline is approximately 7 million barrels per day, while the capacity of the UAE’s Habshan-Fujairah pipeline ranges between 1.5 and 1.8 million barrels per day.
