The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints, but it is not the only way Gulf oil can reach global markets.
Saudi Arabia has a pipeline to the Red Sea. The UAE can move crude to Fujairah, outside Hormuz. Importers can source more oil from other producers, use strategic reserves and reroute some shipments.
So why is the global energy market still struggling? Because these alternatives were never large enough to replace Hormuz.
In 2025, almost 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products a day passed through the strait, around a quarter of global seaborne oil trade. About 80% of those volumes went to Asia. The IEA estimates that only 3.5 million to 5.5 million barrels a day of crude-export capacity is currently available through alternative Saudi and UAE routes.
What Is The US-Iran War Status?
As of August 13, commercial traffic through Hormuz remains severely disrupted and there is no agreement that has restored normal shipping.
Reuters reported that US-Iran talks have stalled, while attacks affecting commercial shipping have continued in the wider region. The crisis is also affecting the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb, creating another security challenge for ships using alternative routes.
The latest IEA data shows the scale of the disruption: global oil supply rose to 101.5 million barrels a day in July but remained 6.3 million barrels a day below the same month last year, while 8.3 million barrels a day of Gulf production remained shut in.
1. Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline
Saudi Arabia has the biggest operational bypass.
Its East-West Pipeline carries crude from the country’s oil-producing east to Yanbu on the Red Sea, avoiding Hormuz.
The pipeline can carry up to 7 million barrels a day, although the IEA cautions that sustained flows at that level have not been tested. Saudi Arabia has already increased exports through Yanbu during the crisis, with flows rising to more than 5 million barrels a day in early June.
But the oil still needs ships to leave the Red Sea.
2. UAE’s Fujairah Pipeline
The UAE’s Habshan-Fujairah pipeline provides another direct bypass.
It has capacity of around 1.8 million barrels a day, but about 1.1 million barrels a day is already used for UAE crude exports. That leaves roughly 700,000 barrels a day of additional capacity, according to the IEA.
The UAE is also accelerating a new pipeline project expected to increase Fujairah export capacity by 2027. But that cannot add significant new capacity to today’s crisis.
3. Oil From Outside The Gulf
The global market can also compensate by buying more crude from producers that do not depend on Hormuz.
The IEA says production growth in countries including the US, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Venezuela has helped offset part of the disruption. US crude and petroleum-product exports reached a record 13.1 million barrels a day in May.
But replacing Gulf oil is not as simple as finding another supplier. Refinery configurations, crude quality, tanker availability and shipping costs all matter.
4. Strategic Oil Reserves
Countries can also release emergency stocks.
IEA member countries agreed to release 400 million barrels from emergency reserves after the crisis began, the largest coordinated release in the agency’s history.
That buys time rather than creating new supply.
And inventories are already being depleted. The IEA says global observed oil stocks fell by 69 million barrels in July, bringing total stocks below 7.9 billion barrels.
5. Bab el-Mandeb And The Red Sea
This deserves its own section, rather than being buried under Saudi Arabia.
Bab el-Mandeb connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. For Saudi crude travelling from Yanbu towards Asia, it can become an important part of the alternative route around Hormuz.
But that route is now under pressure. Reuters reported that Houthi threats against vessels linked to Saudi Arabia have begun affecting tanker activity, while traffic through Bab el-Mandeb has fallen sharply. On August 5, Kpler data showed only one commodity vessel crossing the strait, compared with 20 the previous day.
Why The Alternatives Aren’t Enough
The problem is scale.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE can reroute millions of barrels, but not the roughly 20 million barrels a day that normally pass through Hormuz. The IEA also warns that the logistics needed to reroute large additional volumes have not been robustly tested.
The LNG problem is even worse. More than 110 billion cubic metres of LNG passed through Hormuz in 2025. About 93% of Qatar’s and 96% of the UAE’s LNG exports used the strait, and the IEA says there are no alternative routes capable of bringing those volumes to global markets.
The alternatives are therefore doing their job, but only partially.
They are cushioning the shock, not replacing Hormuz.
And with US-Iran talks stalled and shipping still disrupted, the longer the crisis continues, the more the world will have to rely on limited bypass capacity, alternative suppliers and shrinking inventories.
The real lesson is not that the world has no alternatives. It is that it never built enough alternatives to make the world’s most important energy chokepoint dispensable.
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