Iraq and Syria have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop an 800-kilometer onshore oil pipeline linking Haditha in western Iraq's Anbar province to the Syrian port city of Baniyas on the Mediterranean coast. This strategic project aims to create a new export route for crude oil shipments, particularly to European markets, and reduce Iraq's dependence on existing regional shipping routes, including the Strait of Hormuz. The pipeline is designed to have a capacity of approximately 2.5 million barrels of oil per day once operational and is expected to take between two and two-and-a-half years to complete.
The agreement coincides with a separate implementation deal involving a consortium comprising U.S. energy giant Chevron, American firm Capital TI, and Qatar’s Urbacon Trading & Contracting (UCC), which are slated to execute the project. The MoU is preliminary and is expected to lead to a binding commercial agreement following further technical meetings and engineering inspections. Officials, including Safwan al-Sheikh Ahmad, Director of Communications and Institutions at the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC), highlighted that the new pipeline would significantly lower transportation costs and ease pressure on road freight networks in both countries.
The project builds on a previous fuel transport arrangement where Iraqi fuel oil was transported by road to the Baniyas refinery before being shipped to European markets. The U.S. State Department welcomed the agreement, emphasizing its strategic significance and the involvement of a U.S.-led international consortium. The deal also represents a broader effort by U.S. companies to sign approximately $60 billion in agreements and partnerships with the Iraqi government, focusing on alternative routes for oil exports amidst geopolitical tensions affecting the Strait of Hormuz. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi met with Chevron executives during a visit to the U.S., where the agreement to rehabilitate the pipeline was signed in Washington, D.C., by Bassem Abdul Karim Nasr of Basra Oil Company and Youssef Qablawi of the Syrian Petroleum Company.
