Dubai considering canal to bypass Strait of Hormuz

Dubai's government is studying building a giant channel from the city on the Persian Gulf to the U.A.E. Port of Fujairah on the Indian Ocean to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, The Times reported Tuesday.

The massive canal would be complex, as well as costly, to execute, but Dubai's government is said to be intrigued. It would cost roughly $200 billion, cutting an eastern swathe over the Hajar Mountains via an enormous set of locks, the report said.

The idea is to secure oil shipments from passing through the strait, thereby lessening the control Iran might have over commercial vessels. Iran's government, if attacked over its developing nuclear program, has threatened to target commercial vessels, a move that could cripple the worldwide supply of oil. The 112-mile canal could be a boon to oil-producing states like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq that might be affected by a blockade of the strait.

The report said Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E.'s biggest oil-producing state, is building a pipeline to Fujairah to bypass the strait, but that pipeline wouldn't have the capacity to transport Saudi's oil, for example. Roughly 40 percent of the world's oil moves through the strait, about 17 million barrels per day.