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Baghdad and Damascus are working to revive the Kirkuk–Baniyas oil pipeline, the long-idle route linking Iraq’s fields to the Mediterranean, a Syrian official has revealed.
Mustafa Marati, Director of Public Relations at Syria’s General Oil Administration, said the pipeline represents a vital additional outlet for Iraq to reach European markets through the Mediterranean, reducing dependence on southern Gulf terminals and offering an alternative to the suspended export route through Turkey.
“For Syria, it offers a chance to secure crude supplies more cheaply than maritime imports, meet domestic energy demand, and generate transit revenue,” he told Iraq’s Shafaq news agency on Sunday.
Marati explained that Iraq and Syria have exchanged high-level visits to study the technical and economic feasibility, agreeing to form joint committees to assess the line’s condition and consider whether to repair the old route or construct a new one.
The Kirkuk–Baniyas line, built in 1952, is one of the oldest oil export routes in the Middle East. Stretching over 800 kilometres with a pumping capacity of up to 300,000 barrels per day, it has been repeatedly shut down over the decades due to political and security turmoil in the region.
(Writing by N. Saeed; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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