Deal with Chevron aims to rebuild a crude oil pipeline that runs from Iraq\u2019s oil-rich Kirkuk to Syria\u2019s Baniyas.<\/p>\n
By Reuters and The Associated Press<\/p>\n
Published On 17 Jul 202617 Jul 2026<\/p>\n
Iraq\u2019s government has struck dozens of agreements with Western oil companies, including to restore an energy supply route Baghdad could use to export its oil without the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
The preliminary deals, signed at a United States-Iraq business summit at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Friday, come as Baghdad seeks to move away from dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, where transit has been heavily disrupted<\/a> due to the US-Israel war against Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n Iraq and Syria signed a cooperation agreement to reconstruct the long-defunct Iraq-Syria crude oil pipeline, which runs from the oil-rich Kirkuk region in northern Iraq to Syria\u2019s Mediterranean port of Baniyas.<\/p>\n Iraq\u2019s state news agency reported that major US energy company Chevron would carry out the project under the agreement.<\/p>\n In a statement, the US Department of State said it welcomed Iraq and Syria\u2019s plan to rehabilitate the pipeline, which it said a \u201cUS-led international consortium\u201d would \u201cexecute the technical and financial aspects\u201d of.<\/p>\n \u201cUpon rehabilitation, this groundbreaking project will have an initial transport capacity of 2 million barrels per day of crude oil,\u201d said the State Department. It called the pipeline \u201ca critical energy corridor linking Iraqi oil production to Mediterranean export markets and beyond\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018Make Hormuz an afterthought\u2019<\/p>\n US ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack said Iraq\u2019s latest oil pipeline agreements would lead to a programme \u201cthat will make the Strait of Hormuz an afterthought\u201d.<\/p>\n In addition to the Syria pipeline project, Chevron signed two other agreements with Iraq focused on boosting oil production, said the company\u2019s president of corporate business development, Jake Spiering.<\/p>\n Iraq\u2019s government also signed an \u2060official agreement with \u2060Starlink, owned by Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX, to operate \u200cformally in the country, reported Iraqi state media.<\/p>\n In total, Iraqi officials\u2019 initial agreements with US firms, spanning the fields of energy, healthcare and technology, are worth more than $60bn, reported the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n