US welcomes plan to restore Iraq-Syria oil pipeline

The US State Department said Friday that Iraq and Syria intend to restore a crude oil pipeline between the two countries that has been closed for decades.

The department said the United States welcomed the Iraqi and Syrian governments' plan to advance the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Iraq-Syria crude oil pipeline as a priority infrastructure project. It described the project as having bilateral and regional strategic significance.

The pipeline would connect Iraqi oil production to export markets in the Mediterranean and beyond. The State Department said the announcement was an important milestone for the region and for relations between Syria and Iraq.

Washington is overseeing an international consortium to carry out the technical and financial parts of the project, the department said. Once fully rehabilitated, the pipeline is expected to have an initial transport capacity of two million barrels of crude per day.

In Damascus last week, TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said Syria could become an important transit country for Iraqi oil moving to the Mediterranean. He cited the need for alternative routes because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its effect on global energy supplies.

The source report said Iraq has transported crude through Syria by truck since April to get around the strait closure. It said the strait briefly reopened after a fragile ceasefire but was later locked down by Iran after US strikes resumed earlier this month.

The pipeline announcement came as Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi visited Washington, where US President Donald Trump praised his leadership.