Iraq and Syria held talks on Tuesday to explore ways to enhance bilateral energy cooperation, focusing on the potential revival of the long-unused Kirkuk-Baniyas oil pipeline, which previously transported Iraqi crude to Europe via Syria.
Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad Al Bashir and Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani agreed in their talks in Baghdad to form joint technical teams to assess whether to rehabilitate the decades-old line or build a new one, said a report from Syria’s state-run news agency, Sana, and a statement from the Iraqi Oil Ministry, News.Az reports citing The National.
Built in 1952, the pipeline ran about 850 kilometres from the oil-rich Kirkuk in northern Iraq to the Mediterranean port of Baniyas in Syria. At the time, its daily capacity was about 300,000 barrels per day.
Operations came to a halt after the outbreak of Iran-Iraq war in 1980 due to political disputes with the Syrian regime, a close ally of Tehran. The pipeline briefly reopened in 2000 to bypass UN economic sanctions on Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
The pipeline was heavily damaged during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein and has remained out of service since. Experts said it would need billions of dollars and stability in Iraq and Syria for it to be restored.
Mr Al Bashir said Syria currently imports about three million barrels of crude per month, in addition to its own output, to meet domestic demand, Sana reported. He stressed the “necessity of linking oil networks between Iraq and Syria to enhance economic co-operation”.
