The UAE's oil exports rose by about 30 per cent last month to more than 3.9 million barrels per day, according to tanker-tracking data from Bloomberg, Vortexa and Kpler, just below the highest level on record since 2017.
The Emirates was able to restore its oil exports to prewar levels by sending tankers through the Strait of Hormuz undetected and using a pipeline that bypasses the waterway, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday.
The UAE has kept crude moving during the Iran war by relying on the pipeline from Habshan to its Fujairah port, which can carry up to 1.8 million barrels per day. It has also used its own tanker fleet to shuttle barrels into the Gulf of Oman for transfer to other vessels.
The rebound follows figures from the International Energy Agency that put UAE exports at 85 per cent of prewar levels in early June, up from 1.9 million bpd in March. The country has also drawn on storage, including the 42-million-barrel Mandous underground complex near Fujairah, to keep supply flexible.
The UAE is now moving to make the shift permanent. Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, said this month that the country wants to cut its reliance on Hormuz to “zero”, with plans for expanded ports at Dibba, Fujairah and Khor Fakkan, a new harbour on the east coast, and additional pipeline, rail and road links to oil and gas facilities.
The market is watching how much crude the UAE can now supply, having left Opec in May and shed the group's output limits. Goldman Sachs expects the global market to swing back into a glut as the war's effects fade and Hormuz traffic recovers.
Regional flows have recovered to about 75 per cent of prewar levels, erasing the wartime increase in prices. A fragile US-Iran peace accord has also weighed on prices, which fell to nearly $70 a barrel on Thursday.
