How much oil can bypass the Strait of Hormuz by pipeline?

Substantially less than transits the strait normally. Analyst scenarios during the current disruption have used figures in the region of 2.6 million barrels per day of Saudi and UAE bypass capacity; check current operator and EIA figures rather than relying on a remembered number.

Does the East-West Pipeline avoid all chokepoints?

No. It avoids Hormuz, but cargo loading at Yanbu still faces the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal depending on destination.

The bypass pipelines

Two pipelines carry Gulf crude to water outside the strait. Understanding what they can and cannot do explains most of what happens during a disruption.

East-West Pipeline, Saudi Arabia

Petroline crosses the Arabian Peninsula from the oil-producing Eastern Province to Yanbu on the Red Sea coast. Crude loaded at Yanbu leaves the Gulf system entirely and reaches buyers without ever approaching the strait.

It was built precisely for the strategic reason people now cite it for: giving Saudi exports a second outlet. That said, a cargo leaving Yanbu still has to transit the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb to reach the Indian Ocean, or the Suez Canal to reach Europe. It trades one chokepoint for a different one.

That trade looked reasonable while only one of them was under pressure. Since September 2026 it has not: Bab el-Mandeb transits have fallen sharply, so the pipeline delivers crude to a port whose own exit is constrained.

Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline

ADCOP runs from Habshan in the UAE to Fujairah, on the Gulf of Oman coast. Fujairah sits outside the strait, so crude exported there has already cleared the chokepoint by the time it is loaded.

Fujairah is more than a pipeline terminus. It is a major bunkering and storage hub, and it has seen accelerated investment specifically framed around bypassing the strait.

What they cannot do

Three limitations, all structural.

Capacity: Combined throughput is a fraction of normal strait volumes. The gap is the disruption.
Coverage: They serve Saudi and Emirati crude. Kuwaiti, Iraqi, Qatari and Iranian exports have no equivalent.
Cargo type: They move crude. LNG cannot use them, which leaves Qatari gas entirely exposed.

Why more of them do not simply get built

Pipelines of this scale take years and considerable capital, and the case for them is strongest exactly when a crisis is under way and weakest the rest of the time. That asymmetry is why bypass capacity has historically lagged behind the volume that would need it.

Common questions

How much oil can bypass the Strait of Hormuz by pipeline?: Substantially less than transits the strait normally. Analyst scenarios during the current disruption have used figures in the region of 2.6 million barrels per day of Saudi and UAE bypass capacity; check current operator and EIA figures rather than relying on a remembered number.
Does the East-West Pipeline avoid all chokepoints?: No. It avoids Hormuz, but cargo loading at Yanbu still faces the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal depending on destination.