 Image caption The overground pipeline can handle at least 1.5 million barrels of crude a day 
 
 The United Arab Emirates has opened and begun operating a key overland pipeline which bypasses the Strait of Hormuz. The United Arab Emirates on Sunday inaugurated a much-anticipated overland oil... (Associated Press) 
 
 The 380-kilometer (236-mile) Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline snakes across western desert dunes and over the craggy Hajar mountains to the city of Fujairah on the UAE's Indian Ocean coast, south of the strait. It is designed to carry at least 1.5 million barrels a day of crude, though capacity is expected to eventually rise to 1.8 million barrels daily. Efforts to bring the long-awaited export route online have gained increased urgency in recent months because of repeated threats by Iranian officials to close Hormuz if the country's own exports are blocked. Currently, nearly one fifth of the world's traded oil travels via the Strait of Hormuz which Iran has repeatedly threatened to close in retaliation for sanctions over its controversial nuclear programme. The International Petroleum Investment Co., the state-run company behind the project, confirmed that the pipeline became operational with the first commercial shipment being loaded onto a tanker for export.
– The United Arab Emirates has officially opened a pipeline that gives the oil-exporting Persian Gulf nation some protection from the Gulf's political woes. The 236-mile Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline cuts through rugged terrain to reach Fujairah on the UAE's Indian Ocean coast, reports the BBC. The pipeline allows the UAE to bypass the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, which Iran has repeatedly threatened to close in retaliation for sanctions. The pipeline is designed to carry 1.5 million barrels of crude oil a day but that amount could be expanded if Iran makes good on its threat to close the strategic waterway. The US ambassador to the UAE was present at the pipeline's inauguration and called it "a historic step in establishing multiple routes for the vital flow of oil from the Arabian Peninsula," reports the AP. Saudi Arabia is also working on alternative ways to get its oil out of the country.