Iraq prepares alternative export routes, targeting 5 million barrels per day
Istanbul (ANTARA) - Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair stated on Saturday (5/9) that Iraq has increased its crude oil export capacity to over 3 million barrels per day (bpd) and plans to raise this to 5 million barrels per day as new export routes are developed that do not depend on the Strait of Hormuz.
Khudair told the official Iraqi news agency, Iraqi News Agency (INA), that oil exports have reached approximately 3 million barrels per day since the beginning of September.
He stated that the government intends to increase this capacity to 5 million barrels per day once the construction of strategic pipelines connecting Iraqi oil fields to Fishkhabur in the north and the Port of Banias on the Syrian Mediterranean coast is completed.
Baghdad is also working to expand alternative export routes to reduce dependency on the Strait of Hormuz.
Last month, Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zeidi ordered the construction of two strategic pipelines: Basra-Haditha-Fishkhabur and Haditha-Banias.
The northern route will connect oil fields in the south to Fishkhabur near the Turkish border, providing access to the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline and the Port of Ceyhan on the Turkish Mediterranean coast.
The western route will connect Haditha with the Port of Banias in Syria, providing Iraq with another route to the Mediterranean region and potentially reviving the historic oil corridor between the two nations.
The government stated that the project aims to diversify export routes and strengthen Iraq’s capacity to ship crude oil abroad.
Iraq holds approximately 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, according to official data. Iraqi oil production fell to around 1.3 million barrels per day during the US-Israel war against Iran, which began in late February, from approximately 3.3 million barrels per day before the conflict, before starting to recover in July and August.
The effort to find alternative export routes comes amidst ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz due to tensions between Washington and Tehran.