1. According to in-depth reports from foreign media, Saudi Arabia previously bypassed the Hormuz by exporting goods via the East-West pipeline through the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. However, after the Houthi attacks escalated in July and the Iraqi drone strikes in September shut down the pipeline, Red Sea loading volumes plummeted, forcing Saudi Arabia to re-enter the Hormuz.
2. Saudi Aramco has increased its cargo volume at the port of Rastanura in the Persian Gulf, transiting the Hormuz before transferring it to Asian customers off the coast of Oman. Customers have been notified to pick up their goods near the port of Sohar in Oman, and the company may offer lower prices to partially offset the increased freight costs.
3. Freight costs have skyrocketed: the cost of transporting goods from Rastanura to Asia has risen from approximately $4.5 million per trip to nearly $63 million per trip. Over the past two weeks, approximately 2.4 million barrels per day of Saudi crude oil and condensate have been transported via the Hormuz, the highest since early July; the four-week average loading volume within the Persian Gulf has exceeded 2 million barrels per day, compared to almost zero in June.
4. Alternative routes fail to solve the dilemma: The US Treasury Secretary claims the new pipeline will render the Hormuz "worthless" within two years, while Qatar's Energy Minister refutes this as "completely wrong"; analysts say that detouring only creates new targets and cannot overcome geography.
