Iraq Wants To Revive Syrian Oil Pipeline

 

On September 28 the Iraqi government announced it was starting talks with Syria to rehabilitate the pipeline between the two countries. The line was closed in 2003 after the U.S. invasion. Since Assad was overthrown in Damascus Baghdad has been trying to improve relations with its neighbor. On the other hand, there are questions over whether the pipeline is even a viable option.

 

In April Iraq and Syria first mentioned re-opening their joint pipeline. That was when Baghdad sent a delegation to Syria to talk about the issue. That was followed in August when Syria’s Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir came to Baghdad for further talks. Finally, in September Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani said the pipeline was going to be revived.

 

This would be a major move to integrate the economies of the two countries. It’s an interesting option for Iraq which has reached its capacity in the south and has just restarted oil exports through Turkey. Syria would be a third export route and help boost revenue for the most petroleum dependent country in the world.

 

The problem is whether this is a realistic idea. The Iraq Echo Observatory told Al Mada that fixing the pipeline could cost over $400 million. Neither Iraq nor Syria has that type of money. That would mean turning to foreign investors. Baghdad could try to do that but it also has a long history of failing at developing its oil infrastructure. Basra for example is its main export center but it has not constructed all the storage facilities, pipelines, mooring points and more that it has talked about for over a decade.

 

Ultimately talks about reviving the Iraq-Syria pipeline should be done by officials from the Oil Ministry. Instead, it seems like this is being done for politics. It will probably be a while before any concrete moves are made. Until then the talks need to be followed to see how serious the two nations are about the idea.  

 

SOURCES

 

Arab News, "Iraq moves to revive Syrian export route, expand refining capacity," 9/6/25

 

Kurdistan 24, “Iraq Opens Talks with Syria to Revive Kirkuk-Baniyas Oil Pipeline,” 9/28/25

 

Al Mada, "The cost of repairing the Kirkuk-Banias pipeline exceeds $400 million, and Iraq and Syria are unable to provide the financing,” 8/13/25

 

Salem, Amr, “Syria attempts to revive oil pipeline with Iraq,” Iraqi News, 8/10/25