Iraq is speeding up plans for an oil pipeline to Mediterranean ports in Türkiye and Syria as the prolonged blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues to disrupt exports, according to its Oil Minister Bassim Khudair.
A feasibility study is underway for a pipeline linking the country's oil-producing regions of Basra in the south and Kirkuk in the north with the Mediterranean ports of Ceyhan in Türkiye and Baniyas in Syria, Khudair told state news agency INA at the weekend.
The route could later be extended to the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba.
Khudair said there was a "clear vision and strategy" in Baghdad on finding new export routes for Iraqi oil.
Iraq is heavily dependent on oil exports, which in normal times account for more than 90% of state revenues. More than 10 million Iraqis rely on monthly government payments, including civil servants, pensioners and welfare recipients.
The search for alternative export routes has become increasingly urgent as the Strait of Hormuz has remained effectively blocked for months due to hostilities between Iran and the U.S. Iraqi oil production has also fallen during the conflict.
However, exporting oil overland would remain more expensive and less efficient than shipping it by sea.
Iraqi officials also acknowledge that pipelines and other energy infrastructure outside the Strait of Hormuz could still be vulnerable to Iranian attacks.
Iraq currently exports some oil through an existing pipeline to Türkiye that runs through the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) region. A second pipeline that bypasses KRG is undergoing final testing and could be put into operation within days, Khudair said.
During Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's visit to Washington last week, Iraqi and Syrian officials signed a memorandum of understanding to restore a long-idled crude oil pipeline between the two countries.
The pipeline, which has a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, was damaged during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and has remained out of service ever since. U.S. energy company Chevron is expected to lead the consortium overseeing its restoration.
The Iran war is also disrupting Iraq's energy sector in the KRG, which has come under attack by Tehran. U.S. energy company HKN Energy and UAE-based Dana Gas have temporarily suspended operations in the region.
