Gulf countries have long recognised that the Strait of Hormuz is a major risk to their economies. Years before the current war, they began building their insurance policies - and those investments are now proving their worth.
As "Hvylya" notes, citing a Financial Times analysis by Daniel Yergin, Saudi Arabia has "prudently built a network of pipelines running east to west from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea," effectively creating an alternative route for its oil exports that bypasses the chokepoint entirely. Abu Dhabi has built a smaller pipeline that runs parallel to the strait.
These infrastructure moves are part of a broader resilience picture. China has been pouring huge amounts of oil into storage, giving it reserves to draw on during the disruption. Countries belonging to the International Energy Agency all maintain strategic petroleum stocks as well.
Yergin emphasised that the crisis "underlines the importance of energy security and how closely it is tied to national security." With shipping through the Strait of Hormuz stopped and tanker traffic reduced from 90 vessels a day to virtually none, the pipeline networks offer the Gulf's only functioning export route.
Still, pipelines have their capacity limits. Current oil prices in the $90s suggest the market sees the disruption as manageable for now. But as Yergin warned, the key variable is duration - and nobody knows how long this war will last.
Earlier, we reported: Iranian Military Claims Attack on "American" Oil Tanker off Kuwaiti Coast