EMEA News
Kuwait Ends Pipeline Plan
Kuwait has dropped plans to build an oil export pipeline that would have bypassed the Strait of Hormuz, deciding it would be too expensive and difficult, Reuters reports.
The pipeline, which state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation had been considering, would have involved pumping oil through Saudi Arabia and Iraq, but the route was determined to be too long to construct economically.
Kuwait exports around 2 million barrels per day (bpd), all of it through the Strait of Hormuz, which runs between Iran and Oman.
Kuwait's fellow OPEC members, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have opened new oil export routes to avoid dependence on shipping lanes that Iran has threatened to block.
The Iranian government discussed closing the Strait of Hormuz last year and reportedly also formulated a plan to create a major oil spill in the area.
