A foreign tanker carrying Iraqi fuel oil damaged after catching fire in Iraq's territorial waters, following unidentified attacks that targeted two foreign tankers, according to Iraqi port officials, near Basra, Iraq, March 12, 2026.
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has abruptly thrust two alternative oil pipelines into the global spotlight, one in Saudi Arabia and another in the United Arab Emirates.
The first is Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline network, or Petroline, a roughly 750-mile system that transports crude across Saudi Arabia, connecting Abqaiq on the oil-rich kingdom's eastern Gulf coast to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea.
The East-West pipeline is estimated to have a total design capacity of 7 million barrels per day, following recent expansions, and Saudi oil giant Aramco said earlier this week that it expects the network to reach full capacity over the coming days.
The second smaller pipeline is the UAE's Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP), or the Habshan–Fujairah oil pipeline. Spanning around 248 miles from onshore oil facilities at Habshan to Fujairah, the pipeline is estimated to handle 1.5 million barrels per day, with a reported total capacity of close to 1.8 million barrels per day.
Crucially, both alternate pieces of Gulf infrastructure bypass the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil choke point which has been blocked since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28.
Iran has retaliated by targeting ships trying to pass through the narrow maritime corridor, with several incidents reported in recent days.
Taken together, energy analysts said the East-West pipeline and ADCOP could help to partially offset the nearly 20 million barrels per day that typically transit through the Strait of Hormuz. The risk of infrastructure damage amid the sprawling Middle East crisis, however, remains an ongoing challenge.