Iran’s hold on the Strait of Hormuz has shunted energy markets onto a roller coaster since the US and Israel war began almost a month ago.
Several measures have already been deployed to address soaring oil and gas prices. Saudi Arabia has been using its East-West Pipeline to bypass the strait, pumping oil through the Red Sea. Iraq has been exploring the possibility of exporting oil overland.
Turkey, a regional crossroads for several international oil and gas pipelines, sees the crisis as an opportunity and has been offering an alternative: building more pipelines.
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar last week proposed several new projects during a live interview with Anadolu Agency.
Bayraktar has long advocated connecting Basra, Iraq’s oil-rich southern region, to the north, where the Iraq-Turkey pipeline carries oil from Kirkuk to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The pipeline, which has long been underutilised, has a capacity of more than 1.5 million barrels per day.
