The Middle East sea route, which is used as an alternative to shipping oil through the Strait of Hormuz, which has largely been closed due to the Iran war, could itself be cut off by Iran’s allies, which could further reduce oil availability and send fuel prices soaring.
The average gasoline price in the United States is more than $4 a gallon, USA TODAY reported on March 31.
After the March 28 attack by Iran-backed anti-Israel Houthi rebels, the world’s energy focus shifted to the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a southern Red Sea chokepoint on a vital oil shipping route.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they have launched a ballistic missile attack on “important” military positions in southern Israel. This is the first attack by the Houthis on Israel since the Iran war began on February 28.
This has raised concerns that the Houthis will expand their attacks on oil ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
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The Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf has a transport capacity of approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day and is considered the world’s most important chokepoint for the transportation of oil and natural gas. It has been almost completely shut down by Iran, forcing countries to obtain permits to pass through. Shipments through the strait have fallen by about 95%.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is also an important transport route. This strait connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Estimated shipping capacity is 4.2 million barrels per day.
If the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is closed, tankers in the Persian Gulf will not be able to pass through the Suez Canal or reach the Suez-Mediterranean Pipeline, a 200-mile pipeline that sends crude oil from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea and across Egypt. Its production capacity is approximately 2.5 million barrels per day.
In that case, tankers would have to go around the southern tip of Africa, creating a long detour and increasing shipping costs.
What other oil pipelines are available?
If oil cannot be transported by ship, pipelines are the only alternative, but they cannot match the transport capacity of tanker ships. Important pipelines in the Middle East:
east-west pipeline
- alias: petro line
- length: 745 miles
- Owner: Saudi oil giant Aramco
- capacity: 7 million barrels per day
- root: From Abqaiq oil processing center in Saudi Arabia to Yanbu port on the Red Sea
abu dhabi crude oil pipeline
- alias: ADCOP or Habshan-Fujairah Pipeline
- length: 335 miles
- Owner: International Oil Investment, Abu Dhabi Government Owned
- capacity: Estimated daily production of 1.5 million barrels
- root: From Habshan in the United Arab Emirates to the port of Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman.
Iraq-Türkiye crude oil pipeline
- alias: Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline
- length: 600 miles
- Owner: Turkish state pipeline company BOTAŞ and Iraqi Ministry of Oil/INOC.
- capacity: 1.6 million barrels per day
- root: From Iraq to Türkiye’s Mediterranean coast.
According to Reuters, Iraq is working on developing the pipeline to allow it to operate without relying on infrastructure controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq.
SOURCE USA TODAY NETWORK REPORTS AND INVESTIGATIONS. Reuters; U.S. Energy Information Administration
