By John Lee.
A planned oil pipeline linking Haditha in Iraq to Baniyas on the Syrian coast is intended to serve as a strategic export route to European markets, according to the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC). The project is expected to take between two and two-and-a-half years to complete.
Safwan al-Sheikh Ahmad, Director of Communications and Institutions at the Syrian Petroleum Company, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Iraq and Syria covers technical and financial surveys for the pipeline, which would run approximately 800 kilometres with a design capacity of around 2.5 million barrels per day.
Al-Sheikh Ahmad said the signing of the MoU coincided with a separate agreement between Chevron and two companies - US firm Capital TI and Qatar's UCC [Urbacon Trading & Contracting] - to carry out the pipeline's implementation works. He added that high-level coordination between the Syrian and Iraqi governments on the oil file had been reinforced by a recent visit to Syria by Iraq's foreign minister, during which the possible involvement of foreign companies in the project was discussed.
He noted that recent months had also seen an agreement between State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) and the Syrian Petroleum Company for the transport of Iraqi fuel oil via the Al-Tanf border crossing to Baniyas, and onward to the Baniyas refinery for re-export to Europe by tanker.
Al-Sheikh Ahmad said the pipeline would reduce transportation costs and infrastructure strain in both countries, and that the MoU was expected to evolve into a full contract, with mutual visits, workshops, and field inspections planned for engineers and technicians from both sides.
The US State Department welcomed the initiative.
(Source: Iraqi News Agency)
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