Key UAE port suspends oil loadings after drone attack, fire

Smoke rises from the direction of an energy installation in the Gulf emirate of Fujairah (AFP image)

• UAE suspended oil loading at Fujairah after drone strike and fire
• The blaze was extinguished; loadings may resume soon
• No injuries reported; exports halted as damage is assessed

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The United Arab Emirates suspended loading operations at a key oil-trading hub after a drone strike and fire on Saturday, demonstrating the vulnerability of the country’s only export route while the Strait of Hormuz is blocked.

The blaze has since been extinguished, which could potentially allow for loadings to resume, a person with knowledge of the matter said. There were no tankers at any of the port’s oil loading points on Saturday evening, tanker tracking data show.

Exports of crude and fuels at the port of Fujairah, which lies outside the Persian Gulf, were halted earlier as a precautionary step while damage from the incident is assessed, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified as they’re not authorized to speak to the media.

Fujairah is at the end of a pipeline that allows the UAE to bypass Hormuz, the world’s most-important oil channel. A drone was intercepted there earlier on Saturday and damage from the falling debris caused a fire, Fujairah’s media office said in a statement. There were no reported injuries.

While oil prices have surged above $100 a barrel since the conflict began, the bypass — alongside a much bigger one in Saudi Arabia — has provided one way for the region’s supply to get to the global market. Most Middle East oil exports, including the lion’s share of the UAE’s, have to leave the Persian Gulf on tankers through Hormuz.

The damage at Fujairah came not long after the US struck military targets at Kharg Island, Iran’s main export facility, prompting a warning from Tehran that it would retaliate against regional energy infrastructure.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. declined to comment. The port authority didn’t respond to a request to do so.

Nestled along the UAE’s eastern coast between the Gulf of Oman and the Hajar Mountains, Fujairah, has developed as an critical trading hub for crude and refined products over the past few decades. It’s connected by pipeline to Abu Dhabi’s main onshore oilfields and is the main load point for the country’s flagship Murban crude grade.

Adnoc, which operates an export facility including storage and loading points at Fujairah, cut the volume it will provide to equity partners in its Murban fields from the facility for March.

Read More: UAE Cuts Partners’ Crude Shipments With Flows Sent to Fujairah

The port’s tank farms have capacity to hold more than 70 million barrels of fuels like gasoline, diesel and ship fuel.

Traders buying and selling refined products throughout the region use the port’s tanks as a depot giving them quick access to supplies to meet customer demand. Cargo ships and tankers sailing the region stop in Fujairah for fuel, supplies and crew changes.