OMM Redaksiyası
Gulf countries are seeking alternative routes for oil and gas exports after a security crisis in the Strait of Hormuz disrupted maritime traffic and exposed vulnerabilities in the region’s energy infrastructure, according to the source report.
The crisis followed joint US and Israeli attacks on Iran at the end of February, after which Tehran closed the strategically important waterway in retaliation. The strait normally carries about 20% of global oil supplies.
Only Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have active pipeline systems capable of bypassing the strait, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain remain dependent on maritime transit through the waterway, while Oman benefits from its location outside the chokepoint.
Kuwait and Qatar face severe export constraints
Kuwait suffered major economic disruption because it had no immediate alternative export route. Its daily crude production fell from a pre-crisis level of 2.6 million barrels to 573,000 barrels in May after storage facilities reached capacity.
Kuwaiti crude exports later recovered partially to 1 million barrels per day by September, but remained below 36% of their pre-crisis level. Kuwait is discussing long-term bypass pipeline projects with Saudi Arabia, although such multi-year infrastructure plans cannot address its immediate dependence on the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar faces a similar structural challenge as one of the world’s leading liquefied natural gas exporters. LNG cannot be transported through pipelines in its liquefied form, leaving Qatar reliant on maritime routes.
A Qatari commercial vessel was directly attacked, while rising regional tensions prompted Doha to reduce operations at its Ras Laffan facility. Analysts estimate that the prolonged suspension of maritime transit could result in a shortfall of about 30 million metric tons from Qatar’s 2026 LNG export targets.
Qatari officials have said the country will not pursue bypass pipelines. Instead, the government is mediating diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran, alongside Pakistan, in an effort to restore maritime security and reopen the strait.
Bahrain’s refinery hit by blockades and attacks
Bahrain suffered both direct infrastructure damage and logistical bottlenecks during the maritime blockade. The Sitra BAPCO refinery, the country’s only oil processing plant, was forced to suspend its 400,000-barrel-per-day capacity after its storage tanks reached maximum levels.
The crisis worsened on April 5, when drone and missile strikes set fire to storage tanks and severely damaged them at the Sitra facility, further weakening Bahrain’s energy sector.
Saudi and Emirati bypass routes face different risks
The UAE largely weathered the crisis by relying on the 360-kilometre Habshan-Fujairah oil pipeline, also known as the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline. The system can transport up to 1.8 million barrels of crude per day from Abu Dhabi to the Gulf of Oman.
The UAE plans additional infrastructure investments to double its bypass capacity as it seeks to reach a production target of 5 million barrels per day by next year. The country recently withdrew from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to avoid quotas of up to 3.5 million barrels per day.
Saudi Arabia’s experience highlighted the vulnerabilities of expensive bypass systems. The country relies on the 1,200-kilometre East-West Crude Oil Pipeline to move as much as 7 million barrels per day to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Drone strikes by Iranian-backed Houthi militias from Yemen damaged pumping stations along the pipeline on September 11. Saudi Aramco subsequently shut down the system and cancelled October deliveries to at least two European refineries.
To meet its contractual obligations, Riyadh rerouted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi transit through the waterway rose from 700,000 barrels per day in August to 2.9 million barrels per day this month.
The East-West pipeline resumed limited operations last week, but experts estimate that repairs to the damaged pumping stations could take up to eight weeks. The route remains vulnerable to further Houthi attacks.
Oman has been the main beneficiary of the crisis, using its Sohar, Duqm and Salalah ports along the Arabian Sea as a secure transshipment hub for other Gulf producers conducting ship-to-ship oil transfers.
Crude exports from Gulf countries dependent on the Strait of Hormuz fell by 36.4% during the first month of the crisis, resulting in $15.2 billion in lost oil revenues, according to the Turkish Center for Energy Strategies and Policy Research.
A recent report by the Texas-based Baker Institute also documented the economic impact, concluding that the shortage of alternative export infrastructure concentrated the most severe consequences in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.
