Mike Baker

That pipeline currently carries roughly 1.5 to 1.8 million barrels of oil per day.

But officials now want much more capacity.

Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi ordered the fast-tracking of a second pipeline designed to transport both crude oil and liquefied natural gas to the country's eastern coast.

Once completed, the project is expected to more than double the UAE's export capacity outside the Strait of Hormuz.

Officials are reportedly also studying a third pipeline as part of a broader effort to move not just oil, but petrochemicals, LNG, and other key exports through routes that completely avoid the strait.

Government officials have not provided a final figure, but the overall project is expected to require investments worth many billions of dollars.

Even then, achieving true independence from the Strait of Hormuz will not be easy.

Moving crude oil is one thing.

Redirecting LNG exports, manufactured goods, and container traffic is considerably more complicated.

And that highlights the larger significance of this story.

The UAE is not simply building a few new pipelines.

It's redesigning its economy around a new strategic reality.

For decades, Gulf countries accepted the risks associated with the Strait of Hormuz because there was little practical alternative.

The assumption was that even during periods of tension, the waterway would remain open.

Now, that assumption no longer exists.

The war demonstrated that a prolonged disruption is more than theoretical, and if it can happen once, Gulf leaders have concluded it can happen again.

The UAE isn't the only country reaching that conclusion.

Iraq has accelerated efforts to expand export routes through Turkey, and other countries across the region are exploring ways to reduce their own vulnerability to maritime choke points.

What's emerging is a broader shift in thinking.

The goal is no longer simply protecting the Strait of Hormuz.