How New Delhi is working to fix the Hormuz headache

India is activating an emergency playbook to safeguard its oil supplies, as a fragile truce prevails in West Asia after 10 days of conflict.

- Utpal Bhaskar & Rituraj Baruah

NEW DELHI: The strategy involves bypassing the critical Strait of Hormuz in Iranian waters via two pipelines; tapping into the global reserves of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco); and significantly increasing imports from the U.S.

The two pipelines, which run east to west across the Arabian peninsula, may be tapped if Iran closes the Strait, a choke point vital for global energy supplies. The first is Adnoc-operated 360-km Habshan-Fujairah strategic oil pipeline with a 1.5 million barrels per day (mbpd) capacity that opens to the Gulf of Oman; and the Saudi Aramco-operated 1,200-km East-West crude oil pipeline with a 5 mbpd capacity that offers access to the Red Sea.