SINGAPORE - Oil prices sank in Asian trade Monday after Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates opened crude pipelines bypassing the Strait
of Hormuz, which Iran has repeatedly threatened to close, analysts
said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, shed
34 cents to $86.76 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for delivery in
August retreated five cents to $102.35.
Alternative crude transport routes created by the UAE and Saudi
pipelines alleviated supply concerns which had been held hostage by Iran
in negotiations with the West over its nuclear program, IG Markets said
in a report.
"Very quietly and strategically Saudi Arabia and UAE have opened up
pipelines that allow it to bypass the Strait of Hormuz which up until
now has been the trump card for Iran in its bargaining with the West,"
it stated.
"This fresh transport oil link should help weaken the threat of
supply disruption coming out of Iran and force it back to the
negotiating table."
The UAE on Sunday inaugurated its newest pipeline, which demonstrated
its ability to bypass the Strait of Hormuz by pumping 500,000 barrels
of oil from the emirate to Fujairah oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman.
The pipeline will be fully operational in August, and will have an
initial capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day rising to a maximum 1.8
million bpd, officials said.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia converted a natural gas pipeline running from
the country's eastern province to a terminal near the Red Sea to enable
it to pump crude.
Reports estimated that the new links will more than double the total
pipeline capacity bypassing the Strait of Hormuz to 6.5 million barrels
per day, almost 40 percent of the 17 million barrels that transits
Hormuz.
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