US Officials' Optimism on Bypassing Strait of Hormuz Chokepoint Faces Skepticism

The US President and treasury secretary have both expressed optimism about bypassing the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint through new oil pipelines. Donald Trump said, 'Many oil pipelines are being built in the Middle East,' and his treasury secretary Scott Bessent added that within two years, 'the Straits of Hormuz will be a worthless piece of water.' However, energy analysts have expressed doubts about whether such networks can come online in time to impact the current crisis.

Some pipelines are already operational, but most are still at the planning stage. The Petroline pipeline from Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline and Abu Dhabi's Crude Oil Pipeline are currently operating at or near capacity. Iraq is also planning a network of new pipelines to bypass the strait.

Egypt analyst Richard Bronze said that 'the idea that the strait will stop mattering or become worthless is pure rhetoric.' He added that even if all the pipeline projects go through, 'it's just not realistic from a purely energy flows point of view' for the strait to be irrelevant. Bronze also questioned whether trucking oil by road would be a viable long-term solution.

The analysts noted that building new pipelines is expensive and time-consuming, and even when completed, they may not match the capacity of seaborne routes to markets. The Strait of Hormuz carries over 20 million barrels per day of crude and petroleum liquids, making it one of the most critical chokepoints in the world.