Editing Strait of Hormuz (section)

==Alternative shipping routes==
[[File:Crude oil, condensate, and petroleum products transported through the Strait of Hormuz in 2014 through 2018 (48097472312) (cropped).png|thumb|Map of the [[Habshan–Fujairah oil pipeline]] and the [[East-West Crude Oil Pipeline]]]]
In June 2012, [[Saudi Arabia]] reopened the Iraq Pipeline through Saudi Arabia (IPSA), which was confiscated from [[Iraq]] in 2001 and travels from Iraq across Saudi Arabia to a [[Red Sea]] port. It will have a capacity of 1.65 million barrels per day.<ref name=FPluft0/>

In July 2012, the [[UAE]] began using the new [[Habshan–Fujairah oil pipeline]] from the [[Habshan]] fields in [[Abu Dhabi]] to the [[Fujairah]] oil terminal on the [[Gulf of Oman]], effectively bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. It has a maximum capacity of around 2 million barrels per day, over three-quarters of the UAE's 2012 production rate. The UAE is also increasing Fujairah's storage and off-loading capacities.<ref name=FPluft0>{{cite web |title=Choke Point |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/19/choke_points |last=Luft |first=Gal |date=19 July 2012 |access-date=6 August 2012 |work=foreignpolicy.com |archive-date=23 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723001034/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/19/choke_points |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=AlJ0>{{cite web |title=New UAE pipeline bypasses Strait of Hormuz |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/07/2012715172345810758.html |date=15 July 2012 |access-date=27 July 2012 |work=aljazeera.com |archive-date=25 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725142005/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/07/2012715172345810758.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The UAE is building the world's largest crude oil storage facility in Fujairah with a capacity of holding 14 million barrels to enhance Fujairah's growth as a global oil and trading hub.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/general/worlds-largest-crude-oil-storage-facility-to-be-built-in-uae |title=World's largest crude oil storage facility to be built in UAE |work=Khaleej Times |date=27 February 2019 |access-date=27 February 2019 |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401051150/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/general/worlds-largest-crude-oil-storage-facility-to-be-built-in-uae |url-status=live}}</ref> The Habshan – Fujairah route secures the UAE's energy security and has the advantage of being a ground oil pipeline transportation which is considered the cheapest form of oil transportation and also reduces insurance costs as oil tankers would no longer enter the Persian Gulf.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://gulfnews.com/business/analysis/the-uaes-longer-term-approach-on-energy-security-1.62481848 |title=The UAE's longer term approach on energy security |author=Gulf News |date=6 March 2019 |access-date=21 March 2019 |archive-date=21 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321220630/https://gulfnews.com/business/analysis/the-uaes-longer-term-approach-on-energy-security-1.62481848 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In a July 2012 ''[[Foreign Policy]]'' article, [[Gal Luft]] compared Iran and the Strait of Hormuz to the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the [[Dardanelles]], a choke point for shipments of [[Russian Empire|Russian]] grain a century ago. He indicated that tensions involving the Strait of Hormuz are leading those currently dependent on shipments from the Persian Gulf to find alternative shipping capabilities. He stated that Saudi Arabia was considering building new pipelines to [[Oman]] and [[Yemen]], and that Iraq might revive the disused Iraq–[[Syria]] pipeline to transport crude oil to the Mediterranean. Luft stated that reducing Hormuz traffic "presents the West with a new opportunity to augment its current Iran containment strategy."<ref name=FPluft0 />