Mideast oil producers step up plans to bypass the Strait of Hormuz - AP News

What the report says

The Associated Press reports that Middle East oil producers are accelerating efforts to reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway off Iran that carried about 15 million barrels of Persian Gulf oil a day before the Iran war. With shipping constrained and oil prices rising, Gulf countries are weighing or advancing billions of dollars in pipeline projects to move crude toward ports on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Mediterranean.

AP says at least seven major pipeline proposals are under construction, in planning or under discussion, citing government officials, companies and analysts. Existing alternatives are already important: Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline sends crude from Abqaiq to Yanbu on the Red Sea, while the United Arab Emirates ships more oil through Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman. Before the war, those two routes had an estimated combined spare capacity of 3.5 million to 5.5 million barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration; AP reports they are now near capacity.

The UAE’s Abu Dhabi state oil company is speeding work on a $3 billion, roughly 300-kilometer pipeline to Fujairah that could add more than 1.2 million barrels a day, with Kpler projecting completion more likely in mid-2027 than early 2027. Iraq, heavily dependent on Hormuz exports from southern fields near Basra, is also exploring routes through Turkey, Syria and Jordan.

The shift matters because Hormuz is central to global energy flows, but AP notes alternatives carry their own risks. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they attacked Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, underscoring that bypass routes may still face security threats and higher transport costs.