Pipelines bypass the Strait of Hormuz

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have each opened a new oil pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, the sea route through which tankers carry oil produced in the Middle East. Iran has been threatening to close the strait in response to international pressure over the Iranian nuclear program.

According to a report in the Financial Times the two new pipelines will increase total pipeline capacity for bypassing the strait to 6.5 million barrels per day, about 40 percent of the daily volume of oil that passes through the strait.

The new United Arab Emirates pipeline links oil fields near Abu Dhabi with the port of Fujairah in the Indian Ocean, while Saudi Arabia has converted an existing natural gas pipeline to an oil line — that line runs from the Gulf coast to an oil terminal near Yanbu in the Red Sea, the Financial Times said.

—Alan Bailey