International Desk : Iraq, Syria and the United States have taken a different decision to reduce dependence on the Strait of Hormuz and create an alternative route for energy exports. The countries are planning to restart the historic ‘Kirkuk-Banias Pipeline’ as an alternative to Hormuz. This information was reported in a report by the Middle East-based media outlet Middle East Eye (MEE) on Saturday (July 11).
According to the report, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi will visit Washington next week. During this visit, an agreement in this regard is likely to be reached in a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House. It is reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Asad al-Shaibani may also visit the United States to attend the signing ceremony of the agreement.
This pipeline, which is about 500 miles long, extends from Kirkuk in northern Iraq to the Mediterranean coastal city of Banias in Syria. The pipeline, built in 1952, had a daily transport capacity of about 300,000 barrels.
However, Syria sided with Iran during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. As a result, Iraq closed the oil transportation route. Then, when the US invaded Iraq in 2003, the pipeline was severely damaged and practically disabled.
The sources claim that Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria and Iraq, is working to finalize the details of the agreement. According to Iraqi officials, he wants the project to be a model for US-backed economic cooperation in the Levant region.
However, the pipeline will require extensive renovations to get back on track. New storage facilities, pumping stations, power systems and, in many cases, the entire pipeline will have to be rebuilt. A regional official said the project could take two to three years to complete. Several US companies have already been involved in the process.
The report said that the importance of resuming the pipeline has increased as Iran’s influence in the Strait of Hormuz has increased following the US-Israeli-Iran conflict. Iraq exported oil via Syria via trucks on a limited scale during the war, but it was not enough to meet demand.
Independent Iraqi analyst Sarhang Hamasaed said that Iraq had doubts about Syria before the war. But the reality of the war has made Baghdad realize that it needs Syria as an alternative export route.
Currently, about 90 percent of Iraq’s state budget revenue comes from oil sales, and 95 percent of the country’s oil exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz. But recent tensions have severely disrupted the country’s exports. According to energy analyst firm Vortexa, Iraq’s oil exports by sea fell to 8 percent in May compared to last year’s average.
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