Iran Said to Consider Strikes on Gulf Oil Bypass Routes to Raise US Fuel Prices Before Midterms

Iran is considering attacks on Gulf oil export bypass facilities to drive up international crude prices and US gasoline prices, according to a report. The goal is to hurt support for President Donald Trump’s party ahead of the US midterm elections in November.

Odaily, a crypto-focused media outlet, reported on August 21 that a senior Iranian official said Tehran was planning an "economic war" that includes such measures.

Potential targets include Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu pipeline and the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah oil terminal, key export routes that bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Together, the two facilities handle about 5.5 million barrels of crude a day.

The official said Gulf export capacity could shrink sharply if Iran disrupted those bypass routes and also blocked the roughly 5 million barrels a day now shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. Some exports are still being maintained through those alternative routes despite a closure of the strait.

The plan is intended to deepen supply disruptions, lift US gasoline prices and increase political pressure on Trump’s side before the November midterms.

With Brent crude near $93 a barrel, any sign Tehran could move against Yanbu or Fujairah may be seen by the market as a much bigger shock than the supply disruptions already in place.