Iraq Plans to Open Two New Routes for Oil Exports

Iraq is planning to open two new export routes for oil through Turkey's Ceyhan Port and Syria's Baniyas city. Oil Minister Hüdeyir stated that the project aims to reduce the country's dependence on the Strait of Hormuz and increase its energy export capacity.

A consortium of American and Qatari companies, along with an Iraqi company, is working on a project for a pipeline from Basra to Fishkhabur, which will connect to the Ceyhan line. Additionally, a side line from Haditha to Baniyas is also planned. These projects will provide two additional routes for oil exports.

Emphasizing that Baghdad should not be dependent on a single export route through the Strait of Hormuz, Hüdeyir noted that this does not match the size of the country's oil and natural gas reserves, recalling that before the wars, Iraq followed a diversification strategy to export raw materials through different channels. Iraq and Syria signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington, the capital of the United States, to rebuild and reactivate the crude oil pipeline between the two countries.