Hormuz Bypass Pipelines Fall Short as Strikes Mount
Two months into the Iran war, the vital strait carries a fraction of its normal traffic. Existing bypass pipelines provide only a quarter of normal throughput, and both routes have been struck by drones.
May 3rd 2026 ยท World
The Strait of Hormuz remains largely impassable two months into the Iran war, with vessel traffic running at a fraction of pre-conflict levels as ceasefires and blockades fail to restore shipping confidence, according to energy analysts. The strategic waterway, which normally carries approximately 20 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products daily along with roughly a fifth of global liquefied natural gas exports, has become the central flashpoint in the conflict, forcing Gulf states to activate decades-old contingency plans for bypassing the chokepoint. The existing bypass infrastructure is providing between 3.5 million and 5.5 million barrels per day of crude capacity through pipelines across Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, performing roughly as architects had hoped. However, this remains far insufficient to replace Hormuz's throughput, with both major alternative routes already targeted by Iranian drone strikes. Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, which carries oil from Gulf fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, saw a pumping station knocked offline in April before being restored within three days. The UAE's Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline to Fujairah suffered repeated strikes in March that set storage tanks ablaze and suspended loadings. The impact varies significantly across Gulf producers. Kuwait declared force majeure on delivery contracts in March and extended the measure in April, unable to meet obligations even if the strait reopened immediately. Qatar faces a distinct vulnerability: while its crude exports of around 600,000 barrels daily also transited Hormuz, its massive Ras Laffan LNG facility, the world's largest at 77 million tonnes annually, provides roughly 19 percent of global LNG trade with no pipeline alternative. Iraq has partially restored northern pipeline exports to Turkey at 250,000 barrels daily, but this represents a fraction of its pre-war 3.4 million barrel daily exports through southern Basra. Meanwhile, Syria has emerged as an alternative corridor, receiving hundreds of Iraqi oil trucks overland to its Baniyas port as countries seek workarounds to European markets. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has also pushed regional energy cooperation initiatives, including oil stockpiling systems through the POWERR Asia initiative launched in April.