UAE to protect energy infrastructure, invest in new export routes to prepare for Iran war, minister says

​The UAE will protect its energy infrastructure and invest in new export routes, storage capacity abroad and ‌shipping fleets to be better prepared for the US-Israeli war on Iran, its energy minister said on Monday.

Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said the course of the war ‌could not be predicted, but the UAE would be more prepared than before. The ‌UAE has been exporting crude via Fujairah, which sits just outside the Strait of Hormuz. It is building a new pipeline to Fujairah that will double crude capacity by ⁠next ​year.

"I think after ⁠this crisis, many companies are going to look, think again, and design, redesign their facilities ⁠to be more resilient in the future," Mazrouei told reporters on the sidelines of the ​Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference. "Resilience is a big word. And ⁠it has layers, from the barrel that you produce to the destination that you take ⁠it," ​he said, adding: "You need to be closer to your customers."

Mazrouei earlier told the conference that at certain times his country's exports were higher than ⁠prior to the war. Reuters had reported in June that the UAE boosted ⁠crude oil and ⁠condensate exports to a record high, shortly after it left the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.