Azerbaijan, Baku, May 4 /Trend A.Taghiyeva/
The UAE has completed the construction of new pipeline which in terms of oil supplies is an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Mohammed al-Hamli said on Al-Jazeera television channel transmitted on Friday.
"It is expected that the export of oil through the new pipeline will begin in three months," the minister said.
It is assumed that the export capacity of the pipeline will be 1.4 million barrels a day at the first stage with further expansion to 1.8 million barrels per day.
Small amounts of oil will be shipped to a refinery in Fujairah through this pipeline.
The pipeline's construction began in 2008 running to a length of 360 kilometres. It links the fields of Habshan area with the port of Fujairah which flow into the Gulf of Oman, avoiding Hormuz.
Currently the UAE produces 2.6 million barrels of oil per day.
Some leaders in Iran voiced threats about the possibility to close the Strait of Hormuz connecting the Persian and Oman Gulfs. These statements were supported by large scale naval exercises with missile firing that took place earlier this month and were held in the waters of the strait. If Tehran takes action, it will hit both oil exporters, such as Saudi Arabia, and consumers, that is, almost all Western countries.
The U.S., UK and Canada have introduced unilateral sanctions against the Iranian energy and financial sectors. At the same time, the French authorities support the introduction of new, 'unprecedented"'sanctions including freezing the assets of the Central Bank of Iran.
The new sanctions were made due to an IAEA report that says Iran carried out work aimed at producing nuclear weapons until 2003.