Alternative Routes for Middle East Oil and Gas Due to Hormuz Disruption

Reuters reports that 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.[1]According to Reuters, 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[1]. Reuters adds that the Bab el-Mandeb route south from Yanbu carries security risks from Yemen's Houthi militants[2].Reuters reports that the UAE's ADNOC-operated Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline to Fujairah has capacity of about 1.5–1.8 million bpd[1]. The agency says oil loadings at Fujairah, however, have been affected by drone attacks since the Iran war started at the end of February.[1]Reuters says that on March 17, Iraq began pumping 170,000 bpd, with plans to reach 250,000 bpd[1] through its northern route from Kirkuk to Ceyhan in Turkey. Reuters also reports that a proposed Basra-to-Aqaba pipeline remains stalled by cost, security and political hurdles.[2]Reuters describes a canal around Hormuz as "purely conceptual"[2] and says it could cost hundreds of billions of dollars.[2]In more recent figures, the IEA says that Gulf crude exports surged to 13.9 million barrels per day in September, reaching over 75% of pre-war levels[3], thanks to ship-to-ship transfers and alternative routes.