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If you’re an energy company whose exports depend on a narrow waterway that sits at the center of basically every Middle Eastern geopolitical crisis, eventually you start looking at alternatives. ADNOC Gas, the listed gas arm of Abu Dhabi’s state oil giant, is doing exactly that: exploring a new LNG export facility in Fujairah, on the UAE’s eastern coast, which would allow shipments to bypass the Strait of Hormuz entirely.
The initiative, which entered a design competition and bidding phase in June 2026, targets a capacity of 4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). That’s a meaningful addition for a company that currently runs its LNG operations from Das Island, squarely on the wrong side of the strait from a security perspective.
Why Hormuz matters, and why ADNOC wants to avoid it
ADNOC has already started hedging against this vulnerability on the crude oil side. The company operates the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, also known as the West-East pipeline, which connects onshore oil fields to the Fujairah export terminal. That pipeline was recently reported to be nearly 50% complete in terms of planned expansion work. A Fujairah-based LNG facility would extend the same geographic logic to gas exports.
Recent disruptions in the region have made the case more urgent. ADNOC Gas posted a Q1 2026 net income of $1.1 billion, a result the company described as resilient despite production adjustments forced by Hormuz-related shipping challenges.
The $20 billion gas expansion plan
The Fujairah LNG terminal isn’t a standalone project. It sits inside a much larger strategic push by ADNOC Gas to invest more than $20 billion in expanding its gas processing capacity by approximately 30% by 2029.
Fujairah’s growing role as an energy hub
Fujairah has been quietly building its credentials as an alternative energy export corridor for years. Located on the Gulf of Oman rather than the Persian Gulf, the emirate offers direct access to the Indian Ocean and global shipping lanes without requiring transit through the strait.
The emirate already hosts one of the world’s largest bunkering ports. ADNOC’s crude oil pipeline terminal there has been operational for years, handling exports that can reach Asian markets without any Hormuz exposure. Adding LNG infrastructure would turn Fujairah into a dual-commodity export hub.
What to watch going forward
The design competition launched in June 2026 will narrow down engineering firms and construction partners for the facility. Projects of this scale typically take four to six years from initial design to first LNG cargo, meaning a mid-2030s start date is a reasonable baseline if the project proceeds on schedule.
The competitive landscape for LNG supply is getting crowded. Qatar is in the middle of a massive expansion of its North Field, targeting 126 mtpa of capacity. The US remains the world’s largest LNG exporter, with new Gulf Coast terminals coming online. ADNOC’s 4 mtpa addition is relatively modest in that context, but the routing advantage through Fujairah could command a premium from buyers who value supply security.
ADNOC Gas’s $1.1 billion quarterly profit gives it the financial headroom to pursue ambitious projects without straining its balance sheet.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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