Gulf Producers Find Workarounds to Keep Oil Flowing Amid Iran Disruption

When Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz at the start of the war, many feared that oil prices would skyrocket and cripple the world economy. However, nearly seven months on, oil is expensive but not exorbitant, and analysts say there's enough oil available to meet current global needs.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers quickly found alternative routes and reached for unused pipeline capacity when Iran attacked the Strait of Hormuz. When those were targeted as well, the oil exporters and the U.S. military found still other ways, workarounds for the workarounds, in an often clandestine game of whack-a-mole.

The workarounds are expensive and may not be sustainable. The drawing down of existing commercial oil stocks, especially by China, has also helped keep prices in check, but cannot continue indefinitely. And Iran could yet gain an edge with continued attacks on key oil facilities.