The 380-kilometre Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline runs from Habshan oilfield in Abu Dhabi to Fujairah.
The system is capable of pumping as much as 1.8 million barrels a day and has eight tanks with a storage capability of one million barrels each, nine multi-purpose pumping terminals and three offshore loading facilities, the UAE's official news agency Wam reported.
The pipeline was inaugurated yesterday by the UAE's Minister of Energy Mohammed bin Dhaen Al Hamili.
500,000 barrels of oil were pumped through the new link from Abu Dhabi to the port of Fujairah, which then went to a refinery in Pakistan.
The pipeline is the most important project of its kind so far for the emirate of Abu Dhabi as it transports oil to Gulf of Oman bypassing the Strait of Hormuz and therefore reduces time, effort and money of exporting oil, Khadem Abdullah Al- Qubaisi, managing director of the International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), which runs the project said.
IPIC owns a stake in the Pakistani plant.
Saeed Al Dhanhani, director of the office of the Ruler of Fujairah said that the inauguration of the pipeline to export the UAE's oil through Fujairah will add a boost the emirate's economic development to keep up with its tourism boom.
The strategic location of Fujairah is extremely important both regionally and internationally as the world focuses its attention on having and sustaining energy sources, Al Dhanhani said.
The Strait of Hormuz is patrolled by Iranian warships as well as by the US Navy and its allies. It is the export route for about 17 million barrels of oil a day, or a fifth of the world's oil supply.
There have been repeated threats by Iranian officials to close Hormuz if the country's own exports are blocked.
