Syria and Iraq Establish Overland Energy Corridor

The Syrian Petroleum Company has established an overland energy corridor to supply Iraq with imported gasoline following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. The operation began on September 24, 2026, with an initial shipment of approximately 32,800 metric tons delivered by the tanker Avanti to the Baniyas refinery. From there, the fuel is transported by road tankers through the Al-Tanf border crossing into Iraq.

Under a renewable three-month agreement, the Qatari firm UCC Holding purchases gasoline from global sources and pays Syria transit fees to manage the logistics. The initial phase involved 57 tankers, but Syrian officials plan to increase capacity to 200 trucks per day. This arrangement complements an existing transit operation where up to 1,200 Iraqi oil tankers cross Syria daily to export crude oil.

To ensure long-term energy security, Iraq and Syria are working to diversify transit routes. This includes a memorandum of understanding signed in Washington in July to study the revival of the Kirkuk–Baniyas crude pipeline, a project estimated to cost $15 billion and take four years to complete. These efforts are part of a broader economic reboot by Syria's new authorities, who ousted Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Additionally, Syria is preparing the Arab Gas Pipeline to transport gas to Lebanon, which is expected to be operational within 15 days.