Summary

Closing these two Middle East straits may weigh on your wallet A Middle East sea route used as an alternative for oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which was largely closed by the Iran war, may itself be choked off by Iranian allies, a move that could further reduce oil availability and drive up fuel prices. Average gas prices exceeded $4 a gallon in the United States, USA TODAY reported March 31. After a an attack March 28 by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels against Israel, the global energy focus has shifted to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a southern Red Sea chokepoint in a key oil shipping route. Houthi rebels in Yemen said they launched ballistic missile attacks on “sensitive” military sites in southern Israel. It’s the first time the Houthis have attacked Israel since the Iran war began Feb. 28. That has raised fears the Houthis could expand their attacks to oil-carrying ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Can't see our graphics? Click here to reload the page. With a transit capacity of about 20 million barrels of oil per day, the Persian Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz is considered the world’s most important shipping chokepoint for oil and natural gas. It has been almost completely closed by Iran, which has forced nations to obtain permits for passage. Shipment through the strait have fallen by about 95%. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is another crucial transport route. The strait connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Its estimated transit capacity is 4.2 million barrels a day. Closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would prevent tankers in the Persian Gulf from transiting the Suez Canal or reaching the Suez-Mediterranean Pipeline, a 200-mile-long pair of pipes that send crude oil across Egypt from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. Its capacity is about 2.5 million barrels a day. That would force tankers to sail around the southern tip of Africa, a lengthy diversion that would raise shipping costs. What other oil pipelines are available? If oil can't be transported by ship, pipelines are the only alternative, though they can't equal the transport capacity of tanker ships. Essential pipelines in the Middle East: - Also known as: the Petroline - Length: 745 miles - Owner: Saudi oil giant Aramco - Capacity: 7 million barrels a day - Route: from the Abqaiq oil processing center in Saudi Arabia to the Yanbu port on the Red Sea - Also known as: ADCOP or the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline - Length: 235 miles - Owner: International Petroleum Investment, owned by the Abu Dhabi government - Capacity: estimated 1.5 million barrels a day - Route: from Habshan in the United Arab Emirates to port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman. Iraq-Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline - Also known as: the Kirkuk-Ceyhan Pipeline - Length: 600 miles - Owner: BOTAŞ, the Turkish state pipeline company, and Iraqi Ministry of Oil/INOC. - Capacity: 1.6 million barrels a day - Route: From Iraq to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Iraq is working on the pipeline to enable its operation without relying on infrastructure controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, Reuters reported. SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; U.S. Energy Information Administration