Middle Eastern oil exporters need a plan B, says Reuters’ ‘Breakingviews’ editor George Hay.

Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz means Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and others might end up having to pay tolls to get their exports out to buyers around the world.

Unless Tehran sets these charges at a lowball level, there’s a major financial incentive for Gulf states to start building alternative pipeline routes in ​earnest.

Thus far, Iran has merely said that safe passage through Hormuz hinges on coordination with its authorities, stopping short of setting a public and specific toll. Still, there is plenty of scope to charge one.

The question is whether that conservative number is high enough to incentivise Iran’s Gulf adversaries to construct a workaround to dodge the tolls, in the form of oil pipelines that skirt the strait.

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