BANGKOK, Thailand -- Iranian money is behind a strategic oil pipeline to be built across Malaysia with the aim of linking the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea -- and eliminating a militarily vulnerable shipping bottleneck via Singapore. Almost half the world's oil tankers pass through the narrow Strait of Malacca bound for East Asia, not least China, on their way from Middle Eastern and North African oil fields. Now the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is helping finance an estimated $14 billion land transshipment route across northern Malaysia, ostensibly to save three to four days of sea travel and shipping costs.
Iran, Malaysia Collaborating on Pipeline to Avoid Malacca Strait
