Saudi Arabia developing new oil pipeline to Oman's Duqm, bypassing Hormuz

Saudi Arabia is developing a new oil pipeline to Oman’s Duqm port, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, according to TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné. While no additional information was shared, VP at Rystad Energy Rahul Choudhary told AGBI the pipeline to Duqm is at the feasibility-study phase with an estimated development cost of up to USD 7 bn. About a week ago, Saudi Arabia resumed crude loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu, after restarting operations on its East-West pipeline just 10 ays after being shut following drone attacks earlier in September. The Kingdom began loading nearly 10 mn bbl of crude at Yanbu and nearby Al Muajjiz, satellite imagery captured on 27 September showed.

The move to develop another pipeline signals Riyadh’s push to diversify export routes and reduce exposure to one of the world's most strategically vulnerable chokepoints. Duqm is already home to Oman's largest refinery, making it a natural anchor for expanded Gulf export infrastructure. OQ plans to double its onshore oil storage at the Arabian Sea port to 10 mn barrels within three years, CEO Ashraf Al Mamari tells Bloomberg. The state’s energy company OQ is also weighing two VLCCs that could add another 4 mn barrels of floating storage.

BACKGROUND- Duqm’s pitch as a Hormuz bypass goes back decades. A cross-peninsula pipeline carrying Saudi crude directly to the Arabian Sea, with Duqm pitched as the endpoint, has been floated on and off since the 1970s and never built — though it's already got a live energy link with Kuwait: OQ and Kuwait Petroleum International jointly own the Duqm refinery.