Meios de comunicação britânicos revelam que os países do Golfo estão a considerar uma nova construção de oleoduto para contornar o Estreito de Hormuz

The Times of the UK reported on the 2nd that, due to the “uncertain outlook” of the Strait of Hormuz, some Gulf countries are considering building new oil pipelines to bypass the strait for oil and gas exports. Officials and industry executives from Gulf countries stated that constructing new pipelines might be the only way, but this project is costly, politically complex, and would take years to complete. The report said that the current Iran conflict highlights the strategic value of Saudi Arabia’s east-west oil pipeline, which is approximately 1,200 kilometers long. Built in the 1980s, the pipeline transports 7 million barrels of crude oil daily to the Yanbu port on the Red Sea. Now, Saudi Arabia is considering how to export more crude oil through pipelines, studying further expansion of the east-west pipeline’s capacity or opening new routes. Previously, there have been several proposals for constructing pipelines in the region, but these plans were shelved due to high costs and engineering complexity. Christopher Bush, CEO of Minmetals Group, a private Lebanese company and one of the main contractors for the Saudi east-west pipeline, said that before the Iran conflict, there was strong interest from all parties in building new pipelines, but high costs, security risks, and political challenges have hindered progress. (Xinhua News Agency)