By Hessam Saroukhani, Managing Director of Pressbolt Middle East

Let’s begin with “A Bit of Optimism” …

I hope Simon Sinek will forgive me for borrowing the spirit of the title of his popular podcast, A Bit of Optimism, because after everything our industry has experienced this year, I believe there are still reasons to look ahead with optimism.

Very few could have imagined how quickly disruption around the Strait of Hormuz could reshape the global energy conversation across so many different areas. What has happened has served as a major wake up call, not only for the energy industry, but also for governments around the world.

For many years, much of the global energy discussion has focused, understandably, on sustainability, decarbonisation and reducing carbon footprints. These priorities have not disappeared, nor should they. But recent events have brought another fundamental issue back to the centre of the conversation: energy security.

Countries have been reminded that having energy resources is one thing, but being able to reliably produce, transport and deliver those resources to the market is something entirely different.

I am not going to go deeply into the geopolitical side of the situation. Instead, I would like to look at what it could mean for those of us working within the energy supply chain, particularly in industries connected to hydrocarbons, infrastructure and major energy projects.

A brief look around our region shows how quickly the conversation has already changed.

Projects and infrastructure that were previously considered too costly, too ambitious or simply not urgent enough are suddenly being viewed through a very different lens. In the UAE, expansion of the West East crude pipeline towards Fujairah has become a strategic priority. The project is being accelerated with the objective of substantially increasing the amount of crude that can reach Fujairah and the Gulf of Oman without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, additional port capacity on the eastern coast and the development of regional rail and land transport corridors are taking on a completely different strategic importance.

Across the border, Oman is increasingly demonstrating the importance of its geography. Sohar, Duqm and Salalah provide access to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, and their growing integration with road and rail networks across the GCC gives the region alternative routes for cargo, equipment and potentially energy products.

 Saudi Arabia is also reconsidering the capacity of its East West pipeline system towards Yanbu on the Red Sea. 

Further north, Iraq is revisiting alternative export routes towards the Mediterranean and Red Sea. Syria is once again appearing on the regional energy transit map with discussions around a new crude pipeline towards Baniyas on the Mediterranean coast. The long discussed Basra to Aqaba corridor through Jordan has also returned to attention, while Iraq continues to consider greater use of routes through Türkiye and Ceyhan.

Kuwait, which remains heavily dependent on exports through the Gulf, has also been exploring whether Saudi Arabia or UAE pipeline infrastructure could provide additional export flexibility?

The same thinking is extending beyond pipelines. Regional railway connections are becoming increasingly important.

The UAE and Oman rail connection was already under development before the current disruption, but recent events have made its strategic value even clearer. Meanwhile, proposals for a railway corridor linking Saudi Arabia through Jordan and Syria towards Türkiye demonstrate how regional transport networks could eventually become part of a much broader energy and trade security strategy.

None of these ideas are entirely new.

Many have existed on drawing boards for years. Some were delayed because of economics. Others because of political uncertainty, security concerns, financing, Final Investment Decisions or simply because there was no immediate need to justify such significant expenditure.

What has changed is the calculation.

Infrastructure that previously looked like expensive redundancy is increasingly looking like strategic resilience.

Perhaps nowhere is this change more significant than here in the UAE.

 The UAE's decision to leave OPEC and OPEC+ effective 1 May 2026 represents a major change in the country's energy strategy. It gives the UAE greater flexibility in managing its production according to market requirements and its own long term economic strategy while continuing to position itself as a responsible global energy supplier.

 ADNOC is targeting crude production capacity of five million barrels per day by 2027, compared with approximately 4.85 million barrels per day of capacity today. Achieving and commercially supporting this scale is not simply about drilling additional wells. It requires an entire ecosystem around it: pipelines, processing facilities, storage, export terminals, offshore structures, logistics, power infrastructure and, importantly, the industrial supply chain required to build and maintain them.

This is where I see the opportunity for UAE industry.

At the recent Make it with ADNOC Forum, ADNOC announced more than AED60 billion of local manufacturing opportunities through 2030 covering more than 200 essential products and critical spare parts. 

These are very significant numbers, but the opportunity goes beyond the value of the projects themselves.

Every additional pipeline, processing facility, storage terminal, drilling programme or offshore development creates demand further down the supply chain. Steel, piping, valves, flanges, fasteners, gaskets, fabrication, drilling equipment, electrical equipment, inspection, testing and logistics all have to come from somewhere.

And this may lead us to the next challenge.

The next bottleneck in the energy industry may not necessarily be capital. It could be execution capacity.

Manufacturing capacity cannot be created overnight. Qualified suppliers cannot simply double their output tomorrow. Raw material mills operate with production schedules. Special grades require longer lead times. Approved manufacturers have finite capacity. Inspection resources, testing facilities, logistics and skilled manpower also have limitations.

If many of the projects currently being discussed move into execution during a similar period, the industry will need to think differently about how it manages its supply chain.

Customers may need to engage manufacturers earlier. Procurement strategies may have to look beyond the lowest purchase price and consider capacity, reliability, lead time, inventory and proximity to the project.

This is also where localisation moves beyond being simply an economic policy or an ICV objective.

Local manufacturing is increasingly becoming part of energy security itself.

Having qualified manufacturers close to the projects provides greater visibility, shorter response times, reduced exposure to international logistics disruption, easier inspection and the ability to react quickly when project priorities suddenly change.

For those of us already manufacturing in the UAE, this development brings both opportunity and responsibility.

At Pressbolt Middle East, we have seen first hand how quickly project priorities can change and how customers increasingly expect manufacturers to respond to urgent requirements, changing delivery schedules and supply chain disruption. It reinforces our belief that investment in local manufacturing capability, people, machinery, raw material availability and technical competence will become even more important in the years ahead.

And perhaps this is where my little bit of optimism comes from.

Not from the circumstances that brought us here, but from the response they have triggered.

The Middle East is being pushed to think differently about how energy moves, how infrastructure is designed, how countries connect with each other and how much industrial capability needs to exist closer to the source of production.

The UAE in particular now finds itself in a unique position. Greater flexibility in its energy policy, ambitious production capacity targets, substantial investment in infrastructure and a clear drive towards local manufacturing are coming together at the same time.

For manufacturers, contractors, technology providers and the wider supply chain, that represents an opportunity we should be preparing for today rather than waiting for tomorrow.

Because energy security will no longer be measured only by how much energy lies beneath the ground.

It will increasingly be measured by our ability to produce it, process it, manufacture for it, move it and ultimately deliver it when the normal route is no longer available.

And for our industry, that may indeed provide a little bit of optimism.