The Strait of Hormuz just became much less important to the transport of oil to countries that import crude. There has been much concern that if the strait was blocked by Iran’s navy in response to sanctions because of its weapon’s program, then the price of crude would soar. The price increase, in turn, would hurt the already fragile economies of some of the world’s largest nations. But Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have opened pipelines that will allow oil supplies to bypass the strait. The Financial Times reports:
The new links will more than double the total pipeline capacity bypassing the strait to 6.5m barrels a day, or about 40 per cent of the 17m b/d that transits Hormuz.
Douglas A. McIntyre
