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Iraq Pushes Oil Exports Past 3M bpd, Eyes 5M via New Routes
(MENAFN) Iraq has ramped up its crude oil export capacity beyond 3 million barrels per day and is targeting a jump to 5 million bpd as Baghdad works to open new routes bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair said Saturday.
Speaking to an official Iraqi news agency, Khudair said exports have climbed to roughly 3 million bpd since the beginning of September. He said the government's target of 5 million bpd hinges on completing strategic pipelines connecting Iraqi oil fields to Fishkhabur in the north and to Syria's Mediterranean port of Banias.
The push reflects Baghdad's broader effort to diversify its export outlets and cut its reliance on the Strait of Hormuz as a shipping route. Last month, Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zeidi ordered construction to move forward on two strategic pipeline corridors: Basra-Haditha-Fishkhabur and Haditha-Banias.
The northern route would link oil fields in southern Iraq to Fishkhabur near the Turkish border, granting access to the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline and onward to Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The western route would connect Haditha to Syria's Banias port, giving Iraq a second Mediterranean outlet and potentially reviving a historic oil transit corridor between the two countries.
Iraqi officials said the pipeline project is designed to diversify the country's export infrastructure and bolster its overall capacity to ship crude abroad.
Iraq holds an estimated 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, according to official figures. Its output plunged to around 1.3 million bpd during the US-Israeli war on Iran that began in late February, down sharply from pre-war levels of 3.3 million bpd, before starting to recover in July and August.
The drive toward alternative export routes comes as disruptions continue in the Strait of Hormuz, fueled by ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Speaking to an official Iraqi news agency, Khudair said exports have climbed to roughly 3 million bpd since the beginning of September. He said the government's target of 5 million bpd hinges on completing strategic pipelines connecting Iraqi oil fields to Fishkhabur in the north and to Syria's Mediterranean port of Banias.
The push reflects Baghdad's broader effort to diversify its export outlets and cut its reliance on the Strait of Hormuz as a shipping route. Last month, Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zeidi ordered construction to move forward on two strategic pipeline corridors: Basra-Haditha-Fishkhabur and Haditha-Banias.
The northern route would link oil fields in southern Iraq to Fishkhabur near the Turkish border, granting access to the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline and onward to Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The western route would connect Haditha to Syria's Banias port, giving Iraq a second Mediterranean outlet and potentially reviving a historic oil transit corridor between the two countries.
Iraqi officials said the pipeline project is designed to diversify the country's export infrastructure and bolster its overall capacity to ship crude abroad.
Iraq holds an estimated 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, according to official figures. Its output plunged to around 1.3 million bpd during the US-Israeli war on Iran that began in late February, down sharply from pre-war levels of 3.3 million bpd, before starting to recover in July and August.
The drive toward alternative export routes comes as disruptions continue in the Strait of Hormuz, fueled by ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
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