Iraq is studying the construction of a strategic oil pipeline linking the country's southern oil fields with Türkiye and Syria as part of efforts to diversify crude export routes and reduce dependence on the Strait of Hormuz.
Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair said the government was conducting a feasibility study for a pipeline stretching from Basra to Kirkuk, before extending to Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan and Baniyas in Syria.
Speaking to the Iraqi News Agency (INA) during a visit to Washington on Saturday, Khudair said Iraq had adopted a long-term strategy aimed at ensuring multiple export routes.
"The ministry has a clear vision and strategy based on diversifying Iraqi oil export routes and not relying solely on the Strait of Hormuz," he said.
Khudair added that Iraq had signed a memorandum of understanding with a consortium that includes US energy giant Chevron, TE Capital, and Qatar's UCC to study the project.
"The ministry is currently conducting a study on how to construct a strategic pipeline extending from Basra to Kirkuk, and from there to the port of Ceyhan," he said.
He added that authorities were also examining the possibility of extending a branch of the pipeline to Baniyas, a coastal Syrian city that hosts one of the country's main oil refineries and a Mediterranean export terminal.
The Baniyas route was historically connected to Iraq through the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline, which became largely inoperable following decades of conflict, sanctions and regional instability.
Iraq, the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), currently exports most of its crude through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's busiest energy shipping lanes.
The proposed project comes amid heightened regional tensions and growing concerns over the security of global oil supplies passing through the strategic waterway.
