Iraq Targets 50,000 Bpd Crude Exports via Syria From July as Hormuz Closure Chokes Gulf Routes
Updated
Updated · Reuters · Jun 19
Iraq Targets 50,000 Bpd Crude Exports via Syria From July as Hormuz Closure Chokes Gulf Routes
3 articles · Updated · Reuters · Jun 19
Summary
Early July shipments would send about 50,000 barrels per day of Iraqi crude through Syria, with naphtha also planned once loading facilities are ready, Iraqi and Syrian officials said.
The shift follows the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war, which cut off Iraq’s main Gulf export corridor and left storage filling up for OPEC’s second-largest producer.
Baniyas is expanding fast to handle the flow—two extra unloading areas are due within a week, the port can now process about 900 tanker-trucks a day, and SOMO plans to open offices there.
Baghdad says the Syrian route will stay in place even after Hormuz reopens, turning an emergency workaround into a diversification strategy; Syria is already earning transit fees from Iraqi fuel shipments.
The overland route remains fragile, with war-damaged roads, 30-km tanker queues, recent crashes and protests, though Syria says a revived Iraq-Syria pipeline could eventually carry up to 300,000 bpd.