The Financial Post reports in its Saturday, May 16, edition that the United Arab Emirates plans to double its crude oil export capacity bypassing the Strait of Hormuz by next year. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is fast-tracking a pipeline to the port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman. Currently, it operates a 1.5-million-barrel-a-day pipeline. The UAE has maintained market supply through its existing pipeline, compensating for lost oil revenue as Iran closed the Hormuz route after the war began in late February. ADNOC was already planning to expand the pipeline, which currently carries less than half its normal export volumes. Cryston Energy consultant Carole Nakhle says: "The project gains new significance in the context of the Hormuz crisis, but the logic behind it predates the war. The core strategic objective is clear: reducing dependence on the Strait of Hormuz." The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the only major Gulf producers able to get significant quantities of crude to market during the war. State oil companies of both countries have quietly managed to ship some cargoes out of the Gulf in recent weeks, avoiding the Iranian blockade.