ADCOP is a 370 km pipeline that takes Abu Dhabi crude to Fujairah on the Indian Ocean coast, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. With Hormuz blocked in 2026, it became the primary alternative crude export route and is now running at 1.62 mbpd, close to its 2 mbpd design ceiling.

How much capacity does ADCOP have left as Hormuz stays closed?

ADCOP's design capacity is 2 mbpd; by late March 2026 it was handling 1.62 mbpd, leaving roughly 380,000 bpd of headroom. Real-world sustained throughput is estimated 200,000-300,000 bpd below the published design ceiling.Source: Lowdown

Can Iran threaten the Abu Dhabi pipeline that bypasses Hormuz?

The IRGC struck the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone on 4 May 2026 and claimed maritime control zones over UAE's eastern coastline on 5 May, directly threatening the Fujairah terminal that ADCOP flows into. Iran has signalled it views the bypass route as a legitimate target.Source: Lowdown

Background

The Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP) runs 370 kilometres from Habshan in Abu Dhabi's interior to the port of Fujairah on the UAE's eastern (Indian Ocean) coast, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz entirely. Commissioned in 2012 and operated by the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Petroleum Operations (ADCO) on behalf of ADNOC, it has a design capacity of 2 million Barrels Per Day (mbpd). Its sole strategic purpose is to give Abu Dhabi an export route that does not depend on Hormuz passage.

Crude flow through Fujairah rose from 1.17 mbpd in February to 1.62 mbpd by late March 2026, a 38% increase that puts ADCOP within 380,000 bpd of its published design ceiling . Real-world throughput under sustained conflict-zone stress is likely 200,000 to 300,000 bpd below the design figure, meaning the effective margin may already be exhausted. The IRGC claimed maritime control zones over UAE's eastern coastline on 5 May and struck the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone on 4 May, signalling that Iran views the bypass route as a legitimate target. ADCOP is the only high-volume alternative to a blocked Hormuz; saturation is no longer a hypothetical ceiling.

Source Material

Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline

How the World Sees Them

Kuwait

repeated heinous Iranian aggressions

Leave our region if you want to be safe.

Russia

Iran's ability to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz is equivalent to possession of a nuclear weapon

United States

a day of very good meetings

Iran

on the wrong side of history

International Atomic Energy Agency

not observed or confirmed any direct attack

Iran / Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf

the era of bullying and extortion is over, we don't fold