Iraq may ship crude through Syria to bypass Strait of Hormuz

Syria is ready to provide Iraq with an oil supply route that would bypass the Strait of Hormuz by transporting crude by truck to the Mediterranean port of Baniyas.

According to Report, citing Al Arabiya, Youssef Qablawi, CEO of the state-owned Syrian Petroleum Co., said the Iraqi government had asked Syria to assist with oil shipments in addition to existing flows of fuel oil.

"I expect shipments of Iraqi oil through Syria by truck to begin as soon as possible, as an intergovernmental agreement has almost been reached," Qablawi said.

He noted that the first convoy of oil trucks could arrive in Syria as early as mid-October.

Iraq already uses road transport to move part of its fuel oil to Syria's Baniyas port, where the fuel is loaded onto tankers.

Qablawi said around 1,000 trucks transport fuel oil each day, with each truck carrying about 220 barrels.

Given Iraq's significantly higher crude oil production volumes, he said he expected the number of tankers used for crude shipments to be at least the same, or to exceed 1,000 trucks per day.

In this connection, Syrian Petroleum Co. plans to install additional storage tanks in Baniyas for Iraqi oil.

However, the volume of oil transported by truck through Syria would still account for a relatively small share of Iraq's total exports.

According to the Iraqi government, the country exported an average of around 2.7 million barrels of oil per day last month, including shipments from northern Iraq to Türkiye's Ceyhan port.