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Economy
Iraq is using Syria's Baniyas port to bypass the blocked Strait of Hormuz and export oil to Western markets.
Iraq has found a new outlet for its oil to reach European and American markets through Syria's Mediterranean port of Baniyas, as navigation through the Strait of Hormuz remains paralyzed. The move comes after Iraqi oil exports plummeted by 80% in March due to the ongoing closure of the strait amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. Production dropped from over four million barrels per day to roughly 1.1 million barrels, slashing oil revenues by 70%.
This crisis has pushed Baghdad to activate an emergency plan involving temporary overland transport through Syria to the Baniyas port, ensuring a minimum flow of crude. The Iraqi Oil Ministry announced what it called a "comprehensive" plan to export black oil.
Ministry spokesperson Assem Jihad told the Iraqi News Agency that the ministry is exporting black oil via tanker trucks through the Syrian port of Baniyas, adding that timelines have been set for implementing the plan. Jihad explained the export plan will rely on modern data, noting that refineries using physical cracking technology for black oil—a residue from crude extraction—aim to produce petroleum derivatives including high-octane gasoline, which is in global demand. He stressed the plan is tied to available liquidity to open new export channels.
A delegation from the Iraqi Oil Ministry, led by North Oil Company Director General Amer Khalil Ahmed, visited the Iraqi embassy in Damascus and met with the chargé d'affaires. The delegation included representatives from the Pipeline Company, the Technical Directorate, and the Studies, Planning, and Follow-up Directorate.
According to the Iraqi Oil Ministry's Government Communication and Media Office, the visit aimed to discuss cooperation with the Syrian side on restarting the Iraq-Syria oil pipeline. The two sides also discussed procedures for opening an Iraqi shipping office at the Baniyas port to boost export operations and expand marketing outlets, as part of efforts to develop transport and oil export infrastructure.
Syrian Petroleum Company Corporate Communications Manager Safwan Sheikh Ahmed told the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) that the route for Iraqi oil shipments has been shifted to the al-Yarubiyah crossing, passing via the M4 road toward Baniyas, instead of the previous route through the al-Tanf crossing. Sheikh Ahmed described the change as purely logistical, aimed at "shortening distance and time and ensuring speed of delivery, without any change to the nature of contracts or previously agreed materials."
Earlier this month, the Syrian Petroleum Company raised the operational capacity for unloading Iraqi oil tankers at the Baniyas refinery to 30%. It also began diverting incoming oil shipments to Syrian territory through the Rabia-al-Yarubiyah border crossing as an alternative route. The number of Iraqi oil tankers unloaded at the Baniyas refinery rose from 300 to about 500 per day, with new unloading yards boosting operational capacity to roughly 120,000 barrels per day. Engineering and logistical work improved unloading routes and enabled direct pumping into storage tanks, saving about 40 hours of work.
The Syrian Petroleum Company stated in a release that the step comes "within the framework of enhancing operational readiness and accelerating the pace of supply, as a result of improving unloading routes and enabling direct pumping into designated tanks, which positively reflects on the speed of completion and continuity of market supply."
