Gulf nations are scrambling to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Host Carmel Crimmins talks to Timour Azhari, chief correspondent in Saudi Arabia, about the mania for pipelines and the geopolitical hurdles to diversification. Sign up for the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Reuters Econ World ⁠⁠⁠newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Catch Reuters Morning Bid ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠ For information on our privacy and data protection practices visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Further Listening:⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Gulf’s nightmare scenario Iran: supply shock Energy War ⁠Our Standards: ⁠The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rerouting the Gulf

Reuters Econ World

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Reuters Econ World

## Participants

- **Carmel Crimmins** (None)
- **Timur Azari** (Reuters)

## Transcript

Hey there. So I feel like I need to give you guys a heads up before we get into this episode. I don't want anyone to feel cheated. Because, you know, the show is meant to be about the economic ideas behind the news. But the truth is, for this week's episode, I feel like geography and geopolitics and maps are more important than economics and graphs. You see, I'm taking another look at the economies of the Gulf. That's the six countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation

Council, or GCC. So Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, as well as Iraq. The US-Iran conflict has really exposed these countries' geographic vulnerability. They're way too reliant on a single choke point to get their oil and gas exports out. That's the Strait of Hormuz, of course. Iran has shown it can close off the Strait. And even if a permanent peace can be worked out between Tehran and Washington,

and that's a big if. The truth is, the Hormuz genie is out of the bottle. That's a line I nicked off my colleague, Reuters energy columnist Ron Busso, by the way. I like the Aladdin reference. But what it means is that future closures are now a real and persistent risk for the Gulf countries, threatening their livelihood, exports of oil and gas. So they're all scrambling to bypass the Strait, developing new export routes if they can.

It's creating a kind of gold rush for pipelines. But building that kind of infrastructure is tricky. You have to rely on your neighbours. And that can be tricky in a neighbourhood like the Gulf, where relations can be, well, tricky. So on this week's show, I want to dig into this effort to reroute the Gulf economy. And to do that, I'm going to talk to one of my colleagues who's an expert in the geopolitics of the Gulf. So stay tuned for the conversation.

I'm Carmel Crimmins and this is Reuters Econ World. Every week we go deep on the economic principles and ideas, driving the biggest news around the world. On this week's show, rerouting the Gulf economy.

Wow, and that's easy? Sure, it makes almost everything automatic. I feel like this. Relaxed. Get back your money. The deadline is 31 July. What? You can do it very relaxed with the Visa Steuer. Oh, yeah. So to talk us through what to expect next for the Gulf economies, I'm joined by our chief correspondent for Saudi Arabia, Timur Azari. Timur, how has it gone? It's good. A nice sunny day here in Riyadh.

Nice sunny day here in Ireland, actually, which I can boast of for once. We're all sweating, which is, you know, we're unused to this. Normally we're just wet from the rain. Timur, you moved to Saudi Arabia about nine months ago, is that right? Yeah. So you were our bureau chief in Iraq. Did you think you were going for a quieter life in Saudi Arabia? I did. You know, over the last decade, I've covered Lebanon, Syria and Ira...

Rerouting the Gulf

Transcript

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Rerouting the Gulf

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.