The pipeline being built by the UAE to pump its oil cross-country from Abu Dhabi to the port of Fujairah has been given two different completion dates.
News gathering agency Reuters has reported that the pipeline, being constructed by the oil and gas investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government, International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), is either one or two years behind schedule according to two different officials from the company.
The project manger for IPIC, Dieter Blauberg, told Reuters that the pipeline would be ready by 2011, two years behind schedule, while the managing director of the company, Khadem al-Qubaisi, said in a statement that it would be ready by 2010.
“There have been some delays due to market conditions. The market was congested and getting materials was difficult,” Blauberg is reported by Reuters as saying.
The project “is proceeding on schedule, with no slippage whatsoever versus planned project timeframe,” Qubaisi said in a statement.
The 320km pipeline is an important strategic move for the UAE. It will allow the country to pump 60% of its oil from the Habshan oilfields cross-country thereby bypassing the busy Straits of Hormuz.
The UAE is the world’s third largest exporter of oil and has an output capacity of around 2.2 million barrels of oil per day.Â
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