# The New Great Game

By [DYLIT Media Buzz](https://dylit.info/user/dylitmediabuzz)

[GeoPulse](https://dylit.info/pr/geopulse/6a4e89c325b94158fd865a00) > [The New Great Game](https://dylit.info/ch/the-new-great-game/6a4e89c325b94158fd865a34)

Gulf Oil Giants Race to Build Routes Around the Strait of Hormuz A Chokepoint at the Center of the Global Oil Trade The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway separating Iran from Oman, has long been the world's most important oil transit point. In the years before 2026, an average of roughly 20 million barrels of crude oil and refined products moved through the strait daily, equal to about one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption and roughly a quarter of all seaborne oil trade, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the International Energy Agency. More than 80% of that oil flows to Asian buyers, including China, India, Japan and South Korea. Because so much crude passes through such a narrow channel, with few practical alternatives, disruptions there tend to ripple quickly through global energy prices. That vulnerability turned acute in 2026, after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran and Tehran responded by effectively blockading the strait, cutting transit volumes by nearly 30% year-over-year in early 2026 and pushing oil prices above $100 a barrel for the first time in years. Billions Committed to New Pipelines and Ports That shock has accelerated years-old plans by Gulf producers to build infrastructure that avoids Hormuz altogether. Analysts at Goldman Sachs count at least seven pipeline projects across the Middle East under construction, in planning, or under discussion, with combined bypass capacity potentially covering more than 60% of the Gulf states' pre-war export volume by the end of 2028. The UAE is furthest along: state-owned ADNOC is building a second pipeline from Habshan to the port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, reported roughly halfway complete in mid-2026 and targeted for completion around 2027. It would roughly double the capacity of the existing Habshan-Fujairah line, which already carries up to about 1.8 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia has leaned on its decades-old East-West Pipeline, also called Petroline, built in the 1980s from Abqaiq to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, reported to be pumping around 7 million barrels a day after wartime repairs. Iraq has moved to reopen its pipeline to Ceyhan, Turkey, and is building a separate Basra-Haditha pipeline, while weighing long-shelved routes to Jordan, Egypt and Oman. Bypass Routes Have Limits of Their Own Even with this spending, analysts caution the new infrastructure cannot fully replace Hormuz soon. The EIA estimates unused Saudi and UAE pipeline capacity available during a sudden disruption at only around 2.6 million barrels a day, and even once new projects finish, combined alternative pipeline capacity is expected to reach roughly 9 million barrels a day, short of the roughly 20 million barrels a day that normally transits the strait. The routes carry their own risks: oil rerouted through the Red Sea has been targeted by Yemen's Houthi rebels, and terminals such as Fujairah, Yanbu and Ceyhan are fixed, identifiable targets, unlike a dispersed tanker fleet. Some pipelines also send oil toward the Mediterranean rather than east, meaning it may need a far longer voyage around Africa to reach many of its usual Asian customers. What Comes Next Is Still Uncertain Confirmed so far : Construction is underway on multiple pipelines, several governments have committed billions of dollars, and officials including ADNOC's chief executive have described the buildout as a direct response to the 2026 disruption. What remains speculative is how far the trend goes and what it means for markets. Some U.S. officials have suggested Hormuz's leverage will diminish as more pipelines open, while Iranian officials have themselves noted that restricting the strait undercuts its value as a transit route. Analysts say a more diversified export network could, over time, shrink the size of any future price spike from a Hormuz closure and modestly weaken Iran's leverage — but caution this is not guaranteed, since new routes bring their own vulnerabilities and will take years to reach meaningful scale. For now, forecasts of Hormuz's declining importance remain a prediction, not a settled fact.   Sources U.S. Energy Information Administration — World Oil Transit Chokepoints: Strait of Hormuz — https://www.eia.gov/international/content/analysis/special_topics/World_Oil_Transit_Chokepoints/ International Energy Agency — Strait of Hormuz — https://www.iea.org/about/oil-security-and-emergency-response/strait-of-hormuz CNBC — Oil pipelines around the Strait of Hormuz won't end the threat Iran poses to Middle East crude exports — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/16/oil-pipeline-iran-strait-hormuz-red-sea-iraq-uae-saudi.html CNBC — The Strait of Hormuz: Alternative routes for oil exporters — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/23/strait-hormuz-closure-alternative-routes-middle-east-oil-gas-pipelines.html   Related Videos The $60B Project to Completely Replace the Strait of Hormuz — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfpa0h8TFVU 4 Megaprojects Under Construction to Bypass the Strait of Hormuz — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1plnwIvKuFM The $10B Oil Route That Could Change Hormuz Forever — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ4B22rSsgg Oil producers plan pipelines to bypass Strait of Hormuz amid Iran's threats (Fox News) — https://www.foxnews.com/video/6401222789112