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Gulf oil states drop plan for pipeline bypassing Hormuz
AFP
ABU DHABI
Petroleumworld.com 11 09 06
Oil-rich Gulf countries on Wednesday abandoned a project to build a contingency pipeline which would bypass the strategic Iran-dominated Strait of Hormuz.
Oil ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) decided to adopt the recommendations of a feasibility study which found the project to be "unfeasible", said a statement following their meeting in Abu Dhabi.
The project was "to construct a pipeline for (exporting) Gulf oil to be used if the Strait of Hormuz was blocked," the statement said, without elaborating.
The strait at the southeastern tip of the Gulf separates Oman from Iran, the region's military power which has locked horns with the international community over its nuclear programme of uranium enrichment.
Except for Saudi Arabian oil exports through the kingdom's Yanbu outlet on the Red Sea, all crude exports from oil-rich Gulf Arab countries go through the strait, making it the world's most important oil passage.
Iran is a key OPEC member and the world's fourth-biggest oil producer.
AFP 08 1833 GMT 11 06
Copyright© 2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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