Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed that the Strait of Hormuz is bound to become “a worthless piece of water” within two years as Gulf states accelerate pipeline projects designed to bypass the strategic waterway.
By 2027, new and expanded lines led by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq are expected to reroute roughly 50 to 70 percent of the oil that once depended on the strait onto overland routes, and from there, the share is only expected to grow.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: “[The Strait of Hormuz] will be bypassed in two years. In two years, the Strait of Hormuz will be like a worthless piece of water; the oil will be going on pipelines across land.”
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) September 1, 2026
“The Iranians are trying to use the Strait of Hormuz as a choke… pic.twitter.com/ajAzqLD3zo
"We can see the Iranians are trying to use the Strait of Hormuz as a choke point. It's not a choke point for the U.S., but it is a choke point for many, many other countries. But that will be bypassed in two years," the Treasury Secretary said. "In two years, the Strait of Hormuz will be like a worthless piece of water. The oil will be going on pipelines across land."
🇺🇸🇮🇷 Scott Bessent just put an expiration date on the world’s most infamous oil choke point.
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 3, 2026
The Treasury secretary told G20 finance chiefs that new overland pipelines will make the Strait of Hormuz “a worthless piece of water” within 2 years.
He says as much as 70 percent of… pic.twitter.com/eyDlwUQljJ
Not only could this pipeline network solve a primary headache in dealing with the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, it’s another reminder that the free market’s profit motive gets things done faster and more reliably than almost any grand geopolitical strategy.
Gulf states depend on steady oil revenue. Iran currently threatens that financial lifeline, so they build infrastructure that largely eliminates that risk. If the U.S. ever has to confront Iran in the region again, policymakers won’t have to worry as much about a Strait of Hormuz closure sending oil prices spiking around the globe.
Some critics argue, however, that pipelines are easier targets for missiles than tankers, so the threat from Iran isn’t really mitigated. That’s partly true, but pipelines are also easier and faster to repair than massive commercial vessels transiting a narrow chokepoint. A missile strike on a pipeline also forces Iran to violate the sovereignty of its neighbors, and even those neighbors inclined to cut Tehran some slack cannot absorb significant damage to a primary financial asset without serious economic and political consequences.
And despite the alarmism, Iran has been firing missiles since the outset of Operation Epic Fury, and the vast majority have been intercepted by regional missile-defense systems.
The Strait of Hormuz will not become irrelevant overnight, and pipelines will not make Iran incapable of causing trouble. But they do change the calculus. That is what markets do. They find the best way around the problem. Gulf producers are not building these routes out of ideological devotion to free enterprise, they are protecting their revenues. Still, the result is the same. Iran’s leverage shrinks, oil markets become more resilient, and the regime’s favorite pressure point becomes obsolete.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are once again respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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