Iraq and Syria sign US‑backed deal to revive Kirkuk‑Banyas pipeline

Iraq and Syria signed a historic agreement in Washington to rebuild the 800‑kilometre Kirkuk‑Banyas crude oil pipeline, which has been idle since damage during the 2003 Iraq invasion. The memorandum was signed by Iraq’s Basra Petroleum Company chief Bassem Abdul Karim Nasr and Syria’s Petroleum Company CEO Youssef Qablawi, with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright attending the ceremony. The U.S. State Department described the project as strategically important for regional stability and energy security, and an international consortium led by the United States will manage its technical and financial implementation. U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack said the pipeline will “make the Strait of Hormuz an afterthought,” creating an alternative route that lowers the strait’s strategic relevance. The revived line will connect Iraq’s oil‑rich Kirkuk region to Syria’s Mediterranean port of Banyas, with an estimated capacity of about 300,000 barrels per day and a construction timeline of two to three years. The signing was part of a broader U.S.–Iraq economic package worth roughly $60 billion, covering oil, energy, technology, finance and other sectors, and was highlighted at an American Chamber of Commerce conference attended by Prime Minister Ali Falih ez‑Zeydi and numerous U.S. business leaders.