Middle Eastern Nations Accelerate Oil Export Route Diversification

Dubai. Before the war with Iran, about 15 million barrels of crude oil per day used to reach the world market through the Strait of Hormuz from the Persian Gulf. But Iran tightened control over the sea route, and the price of oil in the world market started to rise rapidly. In such a situation, oil-producing countries in West Asia have intensified the construction of new routes to export oil by bypassing Hormuz.

Countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Iraq have put forward plans to invest billions of dollars for the expansion of pipelines to carry oil to the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. According to government officials, oil companies, and analysts, at least seven major pipeline projects are currently under construction, in the planning stage, or under discussion.