Four decades ago, the Strait of Hormuz revealed its deadly vulnerability to the global oil market. During the 1980 to 1988 Iran-Iraq war, both sides repeatedly targeted oil tankers in the strait, turning one of the world’s most vital crude arteries into a floating battlefield.

Saudi Arabia reacted by building the East-West Pipeline across its vast desert peninsula to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Years later, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) followed suit with the Habshan–Fujairah pipeline from the Abu Dhabi emirate to the Gulf of Oman.

Hormuz’s vulnerability...