A new study has warned that
oil facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia could be destroyed by Iranian medium-
and intermediate-range missiles.
The study, conducted by energy researchers at Rice University's Washington-based Nuclear
Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, also warned that Iran could block
Saudi oil exports through the Persian Gulf.
An attack on the most vulnerable facility — the Saudi oil processing site at Abqaiq — and the closing of the Straits of Hormuz would have a profound implications on the U.S. economy.
The study urged the kingdom to upgrade the trans-Saudi Petroline, which would allow 11 million barrels of
oil a day to be sent to ports on the Red Sea. The project was estimated
to cost $600 million, Middle East Newsline reported.
"Assuming the worse — a complete closure of the Straits of Hormuz —
this bypass system is estimated to be capable of
reducing the economic impact to the U.S. to a loss of only one percent of
gross domestic product," the report said.
"This
figure could be reduced even further if additional pipelines were built from
Abu Dhabi to ports in Oman."
