Abu Dhabi state oil giant ADNOC was forced to temporarily suspend crude loading operations at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah after a drone attack
triggered fires at the key export terminal on Monday. The development marked the second disruption at Fujairah port within three days, highlighting the growing risks facing Gulf energy infrastructure amid the escalating Iran war. Oil shipments from the facility had only recently resumed after a drone strike caused a blaze at the port over the weekend. Three separate fires were ongoing in Fujairah's oil industrial zone in the afternoon, two sources told Reuters, including a witness. Civil defence teams were working to control the blaze, the Fujairah government media office said in a statement, adding that no casualties were reported. It made no comment on oil loadings.
Why is Fujairah Terminal significant?
Fujairah, located on the Gulf of Oman just outside the Strait of Hormuz, is typically a critical exit point for about 1 million barrels per day of the UAE's Murban crude - a volume equivalent to roughly 1% of global demand. It is one of the most strategically important energy hubs in the Middle East. Located on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, the port lies outside the Strait of Hormuz, making it a crucial export route during periods of instability in the Gulf.
The facility sits at the end of a major pipeline that connects the port directly to Abu Dhabi’s oil fields. This infrastructure allows the UAE to export crude oil and petroleum products without relying on tanker routes that pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE's daily oil output has fallen by more than half as the Iran conflict and the Strait's effective closure forced ADNOC to implement widespread production shut-ins, Reuters reported on Monday.
Notably, Iran has already strangled shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that normally handles a fifth of the world's oil supply.
The reported drone strikes targeting Fujairah come amid heightened instability in the Middle East, with energy infrastructure increasingly becoming a focal point of the escalating conflict. The conflict has entered Day 16, and the United Arab Emirates has voiced deep concern over the continuing escalation, while stressing that Dubai remains steady, functional, and open for business despite Iranian drone and missile attacks.
(With agency inputs)
