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(Reuters) – The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil chokepoint, exposing the Middle East’s limited alternatives for exporting its hydrocarbons.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) called it the largest supply disruption on record, bigger than the oil shocks of the 1970s and the loss of Russian pipeline gas after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine combined.
These are the existing and possible alternative oil and gas export bypasses of the Strait of Hormuz:
EXISTING PIPELINES:
EAST–WEST PIPELINE (SAUDI ARABIA)
Saudi Arabia’s 1,200-km East–West pipeline can transport up to 7 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, with effective exports estimated at around 4.5 million bpd, depending on tanker and jetty availability.
From Yanbu, shipments can travel to Europe via the Suez Canal or south via the Bab el-Mandeb strait to reach Asia, a route carrying security risks from Yemen’s Houthi militants, who have attacked tankers during the Gaza war.
HABSHAN–FUJAIRAH PIPELINE (UAE)
The Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP) runs from Abu Dhabi’s Habshan onshore fields to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, outside Hormuz. Operated by ADNOC and commissioned in 2012, the 360-km pipeline has capacity of about 1.5–1.8 million bpd. Oil loadings at Fujairah, however, have been affected by drone attacks since the Iran war started at the end of February.
KIRKUK-CEYHAN PIPELINE (IRAQ-TURKEY)
Iraq’s main northern export route runs from Kirkuk to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan via the Kurdistan region. The pipeline restarted last September after a 2-1/2-year shutdown following an interim deal between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government. On March 17, Iraq began pumping 170,000 bpd, with plans to reach 250,000 bpd, after Iraq’s national oil company SOMO signed export contracts via Turkey, Jordan and Syria.
GOREH-JASK PIPELINE
Iran may be able to utilise the Jask terminal, fed by the 1 million bpd Goreh-Jask pipeline, to bypass the Strait, the IEA said in its latest oil market report. The construction of the terminal is not fully complete but a loading from Jask was tested in 2024, it said.
POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE ROUTES:
IRAQ–OMAN PIPELINE
Iraq said last September it was considering a pipeline from Basra to Oman’s port of Duqm on the Gulf of Oman.
The project remains at an early conceptual stage, with routes under study including an overland line via neighbouring countries or a costly subsea pipeline.
IRAQ–JORDAN PIPELINE
The proposed 1 million bpd pipeline would ship crude from Basra to Jordan’s Red Sea port of Aqaba, bypassing Hormuz.
First proposed in the 1980s and approved in principle in 2022, the project remains stalled by cost, security and political hurdles.
GULF–SEA OF OMAN CANAL
A canal bypassing Hormuz – similar to the Suez or Panama Canals – remains purely conceptual. A project to cut through the Hajar Mountains toward Fujairah would face extreme engineering challenges and could cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; additional reporting by Seher Dareen in London; Editing by Nina Chestney and Tomasz Janowski
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