Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi oil exports via Syria are about to reach a new milestone, with Baghdad set to conclude a deal to carry Basra crude by land to the port of Baniyas.
This step is part of Iraq’s efforts to diversify its export routes and reduce reliance on maritime transport.
The Iraqi State Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) is currently in discussions with the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) to finalize an agreement that would permit the transportation of crude oil by tanker trucks from the southern province of Basra to storage tanks in Baniyas, from where it would be shipped to global markets.
The timing of this step is notable, as Iraq is already using the Syrian route for fuel oil exports; however, crude oil exports through this route have not yet commenced, according to Attaqa News.
The arrangement is likely to be finished soon if the Iraqi cabinet approves it and authorizes SOMO to sign a deal with the Syrian side. The loading terminals are slated to be located in the Zubair area in Basra.
Director of SOMO, Ali al-Shatri, indicated that Iraq does not currently have any contracts for exporting crude oil through Syria. However, negotiations with Damascus are in progress to establish an agreement for the transportation of oil by tanker trucks.
According to al-Shatri, the agreement would allow the transfer of Basra crude to storage facilities at the port of Baniyas, which currently have a capacity ranging between 1.5 and two million barrels, before the crude is sold and loaded onto vessels.
The quantities transported via this route will be restricted, given the age of the Baniyas storage tanks and their need for maintenance, despite their capacity for storing limited quantities of crude oil.
The oil is scheduled to be transported from terminals in Basra by tanker trucks to Syria, pending the completion of the pipeline project planned by Baghdad and Damascus, according to al-Shatri.
Overland transport is a secondary alternative, not Iraq’s major export route, but it allows the nation to enhance export quantities alongside cargoes going by sea.
