To Bypass the Strait of Hormuz, TotalEnergies Backs Two Major Oil Pipelines in the UAE and Iraq

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Monday, Shahrivar 2, 1405 (August 24, 2026), at the ONS energy conference in Norway that the French company will invest in two pipeline projects designed to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. According to Oilprice.com, citing Pouyanne's remarks carried by Reuters, TotalEnergies will back the expansion of the UAE's Habshan to Fujairah pipeline and will also become a partner in a planned pipeline carrying Iraqi crude from Baghdad to Syria for export via the Mediterranean. The company has not disclosed the size of its investment or its stake in either project. The report said the existing Habshan to Fujairah pipeline can carry up to 1.8 million barrels per day, and Abu Dhabi plans to roughly double that capacity by next year. The Iraq to Syria pipeline is estimated to cost around $15 billion and take at least four years to build. Before the Iran war, roughly a fifth of global oil supply passed through the Strait of Hormuz.