Iraq and the U.S. will restore the oil pipeline to Syria | Ukrainian News

It could take up to three years to repair the oil pipeline connecting Kirkuk to Baniyas

Iraq, Syria, and the United States plan to restore the historic oil pipeline from Kirkuk to the Syrian port of Baniyas on the Mediterranean coast. The project is intended to help Iraq diversify its oil export routes and reduce its dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, reports Middle East Eye, citing sources.

According to the publication, an agreement to restore the 800-kilometer pipeline could be announced as early as next week during a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and the U.S. president Donald Trump at the White House.

According to sources speaking to Middle East Eye, Tom Barrack, the U.S. Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq and Ambassador to Turkey, is working out the details of the agreements. It is expected that after Washington, al-Zaidi will also visit Texas.

The oil pipeline connecting Kirkuk to Baniyas was commissioned in 1952. Its capacity was approximately 300,000 barrels per day. Iraq ceased using it in the 1980s after Syria sided with Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the pipeline sustained significant damage and is effectively out of service.

According to one regional official, restoring the project will require virtually a complete replacement of the pipeline. The work could take two to three years. There are already plans to involve a consortium of American companies in the reconstruction.

According to Middle East Eye, the project’s relevance has increased sharply after Iran demonstrated its ability to control the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict between the U.S. and Israel. During the hostilities, Iraq began exporting small volumes of oil to Syria by tanker trucks, but this is not enough to ensure stable supplies.

Currently, about 95% of Iraq’s oil exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz. According to estimates by the analytics firm Vortexa, Iraq’s seaborne oil exports in May amounted to only 8% of last year’s average. At the same time, revenue from oil sales accounts for about 90% of the country’s national budget.

In early July, the Iraqi government approved a preliminary agreement that calls for the participation of the U.S. companies Capital TI and Chevron, as well as a Qatari company, in exploring the possibility of building oil pipelines from Kirkuk and the Haditha oil hub to Baniyas, Syria.

• The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has already led to a rise in global oil and gas prices and has affected fuel prices around the world, including in Ukraine. In June, it already seemed that traffic through the strait was beginning to resume, but in July The situation has worsened again.
• In early June, CNBC reported that Iraq and the United Arab Emirates were expanding their oil pipelines in order to have an alternative to supply oil due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
• According to Bloomberg, during the temporary recovery To ensure the safety of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Iraq withdrew from the Persian Gulf 14 million barrels of oil.