Iraq and Syria signed an agreement Friday to rebuild a major oil pipeline stretching from Kirkuk in northern Iraq to the Mediterranean coast, offering Baghdad a critical export route as production has slumped amid the U.S.-Iran war.
The pipeline, which has a nameplate capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, has been shut since it was damaged during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. The revived line would run from Iraqi oil fields near Kirkuk to Baniyas on Syria's western coast. The deal was signed by the heads of Iraq's and Syria's state oil companies in Washington, D.C., under the oversight of U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer, has seen output fall to roughly 1.9 million barrels per day in June from about 4.2 million in February, suffering heavily from disruption to tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq Thomas Barrack hosted talks with Syrian and Iraqi officials and oil companies, including Chevron Corporation, ahead of the signing.