US Backs Iraq-Syria Oil Pipeline to Weaken Iran’s Hormuz Hold

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One option Barrack is promoting is rebuilding the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline, a 500-mile (800-kilometer) system that’s been shut since being damaged during the US invasion of Iraq in the early 2000s. Another alternative is installing a line from Basra in the south of the country to Haditha in the north, which could then branch out to Syria, Turkey or Jordan.

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Earlier this month, Iraq’s government authorized state-owned Basra Oil Co. to award a contract to Houston-based engineering firm KBR Inc. to advise on the idea. 

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Iraq is keen to attract foreign investment that would reduce reliance on its southern ports on the Persian Gulf. It currently has just one major export pipeline that transports oil from the north to Turkey’s port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea.

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Iraq’s new pipeline prospects appear to have a willing partner in Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is attempting to reintegrate the country with the international community after a 14-year civil war. 

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Al-Sharaa, a former jihadist who helped topple Bashar al-Assad in 2024, was warmly received on the sidelines of the NATO summit earlier this month by US President Donald Trump, who pledged to remove terrorism sanctions on the country. The US has lifted several other restrictions on Syria over the past year, allowing companies including Chevron, Total and ConocoPhillips to open negotiations about exploring for oil in the country. 

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“Syria may become a complete destination for reducing risks and diversifying export options,” Basel Al Suwaidan, Syria’s agriculture minister said in an interview. “This gives Syria an important role in the next phase.” 

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Syrian pipelines, however, have a history of shutdowns. First built in the 1950s, the Kirkuk-Baniyas system was halted in the 1970s and again in the early 1980s due to souring relations between Iraq and Syria. 

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Its revival could become one of Iraq’s main export routes to the Mediterranean, making it a potential target during periods of regional tensions. Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq, who already openly voice their opposition to deeper energy cooperation with Sharaa’s Syria, could see it as undermining Tehran’s interests and disrupt its operations.

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Practical challenges exist too. Much of the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline has been out of use for decades and would need to be rebuilt, alongside pumping stations and other infrastructure, potentially costing billions of dollars. 

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French President Emmanuel Macron visited Damascus earlier this month becoming the first European leader to do so since al-Assad’s fall. The trip, which was disrupted by explosions in Damascus that injured about a dozen people, was intended to foster regional stability and diversify supply routes between Europe and the Middle East, according to France’s presidential palace 

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“Syria sits at a strategic crossroads in the Middle East,” Patrick Pouyanne, who is the CEO French oil giant Total and attended the trip, told reporters while in Damascus. “If, for example, you want to transport Iraqi oil without relying on the Strait of Hormuz, Syria becomes an important transit route. That’s why the country matters.”

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—With assistance from Selcan Hacaoglu, Francois de Beaupuy, Ania Nussbaum and Eric Martin.

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