TotalEnergies CEO calls Hormuz bypass pipelines ‘absolute priority’

TotalEnergies CEO Calls for New Gulf Pipelines to Bypass Strait of Hormuz

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné declared that investing in pipelines to bypass the Strait of Hormuz is now an “absolute priority,” arguing that the nearly four-month disruption caused by the Iran conflict has exposed a strategic vulnerability the oil industry can no longer ignore.

“The reality is that the Strait of Hormuz represents a genuine threat, so we must act,” Pouyanné said at an energy conference in Paris on Tuesday. “To ensure it doesn’t remain a threat, there is only one solution: we must invest in pipelines to bypass the strait.”reuters

A Crisis-Driven Reckoning

The comments come as the strait remains effectively closed since late February, when U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran triggered Tehran’s declaration of closure and mining of the waterway on March 4. The disruption has stranded some 1,550 vessels and trapped roughly 22,500 mariners, according to reports from May. Pentagon officials told Congress in April that fully clearing the strait could take six months.aljazeera

TotalEnergies, the Western oil major most exposed to the Middle East, has felt the impact acutely. Pouyanné noted in April that the unpredictability surrounding Hormuz was driving an elevated risk premium in oil prices. The company made large trading moves after detecting a U.S. Navy buildup in the Gulf as early as February, according to earlier remarks by the CEO.energynow

Existing Bypass Capacity and New Projects

Currently, three pipelines provide some bypass capacity: Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, and the Iraq-Turkey Kirkuk-Ceyhan line, which together can move roughly 8 to 8.5 million barrels per day — well short of the approximately 20 million barrels that transited Hormuz daily before the crisis.nextbigfuture

Iraq and the UAE are already fast-tracking expansions. According to CNBC, Iraq’s exports have nearly ceased since the conflict began due to its reliance on Gulf shipping routes, accelerating plans for a Basra-Haditha pipeline that could eventually carry 2.25 to 2.5 million barrels per day, with early flows possible by late 2026 or early 2027. TotalEnergies is already deeply invested in Iraq through its $27 billion Gas Growth Integrated Project, which began its final construction phase last year.aawsat

Industry analysts estimate that incremental expansions of existing national bypass systems could push combined capacity toward 12 to 13 million barrels per day within three to five years, while Iraqi projects could add another 2 to 3 million barrels per day beyond that.nextbigfuture