Globalists Panicking as Pipelines Make Iran’s Strait of Hormuz Power Play Obsolete?

A dramatic claim is circulating online suggesting that “globalists are panicking” because new pipelines have made Iran’s ability to use the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic weapon essentially obsolete.

The reality is more complicated—and, in some ways, more interesting.

Pipelines are changing the strategic calculations surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have established routes that allow at least some oil to reach export terminals without passing through the narrow waterway. Iran also built the Goreh–Jask pipeline specifically to create an alternative export route.

But it would be a major exaggeration to conclude that pipelines have made Hormuz irrelevant.

The Strait remains one of the most important energy chokepoints on Earth. In the first half of 2025, approximately 20.9 million barrels of oil per day passed through it—roughly one-fifth of global petroleum-liquids consumption and about one-quarter of globally traded oil by sea. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

And amid the current 2026 crisis, the importance of the waterway has been demonstrated dramatically.

Why the Strait of Hormuz Matters

The Strait of Hormuz lies between Iran and Oman, connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the wider Arabian Sea.

Geographically, it is a narrow passage. At its narrowest point, the strait is approximately 21 miles wide, while the designated shipping lanes are considerably narrower.

That geography gives the waterway enormous strategic importance.

Major oil-producing countries—including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates—have historically depended heavily on maritime routes through or connected to the Persian Gulf.

For energy markets, the problem is straightforward.

If a significant portion of those exports cannot leave the region normally, global supply can be disrupted.

That is why even the possibility of a prolonged Hormuz disruption can push oil prices higher.

The current crisis has provided a real-world demonstration of that vulnerability. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated that several Gulf producers shut in millions of barrels per day of production when flows through Hormuz were severely restricted. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

So why are pipelines suddenly receiving so much attention?

The Pipeline Alternative

The answer is geography.

A pipeline can move crude oil over land from production and processing facilities to an export terminal located outside the threatened chokepoint.

Saudi Arabia has one of the most important examples.

Its East-West Pipeline, often called Petroline, runs from the country’s eastern oil-producing region toward Yanbu on the Red Sea.

The system has a nominal capacity of around 5 million barrels per day, and Saudi Arabia has demonstrated that it can increase capacity under certain circumstances. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

That means Saudi Arabia does not necessarily have to send every barrel toward terminals requiring passage through Hormuz.

The United Arab Emirates has a similar advantage.

Its Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline connects oil fields to the export terminal at Fujairah, located on the Gulf of Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz.

The pipeline currently has a maximum capacity of approximately 1.8 million barrels per day, according to the EIA. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

These systems effectively give Gulf producers another door through which oil can reach the global market.

And Then There Is Iran

Iran’s own alternative is particularly significant.

The Goreh–Jask pipeline was developed specifically to move Iranian crude from the country’s interior toward the Jask terminal on the Gulf of Oman.

That is strategically important because Jask is outside the Strait of Hormuz.

In theory, Iran could therefore export some crude without relying on its traditional terminals inside the Persian Gulf.

The project was inaugurated in 2021, but its actual utilization has historically been limited. The EIA previously reported that the pipeline had a capacity of around 300,000 barrels per day and that Iran had used it only sparingly. More recent EIA analysis likewise puts its effective capacity at approximately 0.3 million barrels per day. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

That fact is crucial.

The pipeline is strategically valuable, but it does not suddenly provide Iran with a replacement for all the oil that normally moves through Hormuz.

Why “Hormuz Is Obsolete” Goes Too Far

This is where the viral headline becomes misleading.

The pipelines are important, but their capacity is nowhere near enough to replace the entire Strait.

The EIA estimates that Saudi Arabia’s and the UAE’s existing bypass pipelines together provide roughly 4.7 million barrels per day of capacity that can avoid Hormuz. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

Compare that with the approximately 20.9 million barrels per day that moved through Hormuz in the first half of 2025.

The difference is enormous.

Pipelines can therefore reduce vulnerability without eliminating it.

Think of the situation as a city with one major bridge.

If engineers construct three alternative roads, the bridge becomes less powerful as a single point of failure. But if the three roads can carry only a fraction of the traffic, closing the bridge still creates a massive transportation problem.

That is essentially the situation with Hormuz.

The LNG Problem Is Even Bigger

There is another reason why claims about pipelines making Hormuz obsolete should be treated cautiously.

Oil is not the only energy commodity moving through the region.

The Strait is also critically important for liquefied natural gas.

Qatar, one of the world’s largest LNG exporters, has historically depended heavily on maritime access through the Persian Gulf and Hormuz.

Oil pipelines cannot simply replace LNG tankers.

Natural gas infrastructure and LNG supply chains have different requirements, and a pipeline designed for crude oil cannot substitute for maritime LNG transportation.

Consequently, even if every major oil producer suddenly had a huge bypass pipeline, Hormuz would still matter enormously to global energy markets.

The 2026 Crisis Has Changed the Conversation

The current geopolitical crisis has nevertheless accelerated discussion about energy diversification.

Recent reporting indicates that Gulf oil exports remained well below pre-war levels in July 2026, while Saudi Arabia and the UAE increased their reliance on alternative routes. Reuters reported that Gulf exports were around 40% below pre-war levels despite signs of stabilization. (Reuters)

This illustrates something important.

Infrastructure that may have seemed like a backup option during peaceful periods can become extremely valuable during a crisis.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea infrastructure and the UAE’s Fujairah route can provide an emergency outlet when Hormuz becomes difficult or dangerous to use.

The value of those pipelines therefore isn’t necessarily that they replace Hormuz.

Their value is that they reduce the amount of energy supply completely dependent on Hormuz.

Iran’s Strategic Calculation

For Iran, the equation is different.

Iran has historically possessed enormous leverage simply because of its geographic position beside the Strait.

But that leverage is complicated.

Closing or seriously disrupting Hormuz could hurt Iran’s adversaries—but it could also hurt Iran itself.

Iranian crude exports have traditionally depended heavily on Gulf terminals.

That means Tehran must consider the economic consequences of restricting a waterway through which its own energy exports normally travel.

The Goreh–Jask project offers Iran a degree of insurance.

Even if its capacity is limited, having an alternative export terminal means that some Iranian oil can potentially reach the open sea without entering Hormuz.

That gives the infrastructure strategic value beyond its raw barrel-per-day capacity.

Pipelines Are Not Invulnerable

There is another misconception hidden inside the viral headline.

Pipelines may bypass a maritime chokepoint, but they create infrastructure that must itself be protected.

A pipeline can be damaged.

Pumping stations can be disrupted.

Storage terminals can be targeted.

Export ports remain vulnerable.

And pipelines cannot solve every logistical problem.

Once crude reaches an alternative terminal, it still has to be loaded onto ships and transported to customers.

The location of the alternative terminal therefore matters enormously.

For example, Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu route reaches the Red Sea, but vessels using the Red Sea can encounter another major security concern: the Bab el-Mandeb and the wider Red Sea shipping environment.

Recent reporting has highlighted the interaction between Hormuz disruptions and security problems around the Red Sea, demonstrating that energy infrastructure does not eliminate geopolitical risk—it can shift where that risk occurs. (Reuters)

The Real Strategic Revolution

The most important development is not that pipelines have “defeated” Hormuz.

It is that Gulf states have spent years creating redundancy.

That word—redundancy—is critical in energy security.

A country that depends on one export route is highly vulnerable.

A country with several pipelines, ports, storage facilities and shipping options has greater flexibility.

Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline and the UAE’s Fujairah route are examples of this strategy.

Iran’s Goreh–Jask project is another.

These investments effectively transform the energy map.

They mean that a disruption to one route does not necessarily translate into an immediate disappearance of all exports.

Why Markets Still Care About Hormuz

Despite these alternatives, financial markets continue to watch Hormuz closely.

There is a simple reason.

The scale of the trade passing through the strait remains enormous.

As of August 10, 2026, uncertainty surrounding reopening and the political negotiations connected to the waterway was still affecting oil markets. Reuters reported that Iran was tying the reopening of Hormuz to demands involving sanctions, security guarantees, compensation and other issues, while negotiations involving Oman were continuing. (Reuters)

Oil prices have responded accordingly.

Reports on August 10 indicated that geopolitical uncertainty was adding a risk premium to crude prices, with Brent and WTI both moving higher during the session. (The Wall Street Journal)

If pipelines had truly made Hormuz irrelevant, traders would not be watching the waterway so closely.

They are because the alternatives are limited.

So Who Is “Panicking”?

The phrase “globalists panicking” is political rhetoric rather than a precise description of an identifiable group.

There is no evidence that some single category of “globalists” is collectively panicking because of pipeline construction.

What we can identify are very real concerns among governments, energy companies, traders and consumers about the vulnerability of global energy supply chains.

And those concerns are understandable.

A major disruption to Hormuz can affect oil prices, transportation costs, inflation and manufacturing around the world.

But governments have also learned from previous crises.

Building alternative routes is one way to reduce exposure.

The Bigger Picture

The Strait of Hormuz is not becoming obsolete.

Instead, its strategic power is being partially diluted by infrastructure.

That is an important distinction.

Saudi Arabia can move significant quantities of oil toward the Red Sea.

The UAE can send crude toward Fujairah.

Iran has the Goreh–Jask route toward the Gulf of Oman.

Future infrastructure projects could expand those alternatives further. The EIA notes that the UAE has plans for additional pipeline capacity designed to circumvent the strait. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

But none of this can instantly replace approximately 20 million barrels per day of energy flows.

Hormuz remains a crucial chokepoint.

What is changing is the degree of dependence.

And perhaps that is the real story behind the sensational headline.

The future of energy security is not about finding one magical pipeline that makes a strategic waterway irrelevant. It is about building enough alternative infrastructure that no single chokepoint can completely control the global energy system.

That is a much less dramatic claim than “Hormuz is obsolete.”

But it is also much closer to reality.

Pipelines aren’t eliminating Iran’s strategic leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. They are making that leverage less absolute—and that may prove to be one of the most consequential changes in the energy geopolitics of the Middle East.