For decades, the Strait of Hormuz has been the world’s most important oil chokepoint, a narrow sliver of water between Iran and Oman through which roughly 20% of all global petroleum liquids pass every single day.
Goldman Sachs now thinks that lever is getting shorter.
In its mid-2026 analysis, Goldman found that Gulf producers are systematically rerouting crude exports away from Hormuz through alternative pipeline infrastructure, to the point where as much as 60% of Gulf oil exports could bypass the strait entirely by 2028.
The pipes that change everything
Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline routes approximately 60% of Saudi Aramco’s shipments to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, completely sidestepping Hormuz.
