Iraq signs deals with Western oil firms, including to revive Syria pipeline

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing Reuters and The Associated Press, reported that Iraq has reached dozens of preliminary agreements with Western companies, including a plan involving Chevron to restore a crude oil export route from Iraq’s Kirkuk region to Syria’s Mediterranean port of Baniyas. The deals were signed Friday at a US-Iraq business summit at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC, where Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi addressed business leaders.

The pipeline project is tied to a cooperation agreement between Iraq and Syria to rebuild the long-inactive Iraq-Syria crude line. Al Jazeera reported that Iraq’s state news agency said Chevron would carry out the work, while the US Department of State welcomed the plan and said a US-led international consortium would handle technical and financing components. The State Department said the line could initially move 2 million barrels per day once rehabilitated.

The development matters because Baghdad is seeking export options that reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that Al Jazeera reported has faced major disruption during the US-Israel war against Iran. US ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack said the new pipeline arrangements could make Hormuz less central to Iraq’s oil trade.

Chevron also signed two additional agreements with Iraq aimed at increasing oil production, according to a company executive cited in the report. Iraqi officials also reached an agreement for Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate formally in Iraq. Reuters reported that the initial agreements with US firms cover energy, healthcare and technology and are worth more than $60bn.