Syria announces start of gasoline transfers to Iraq via Baniyas port - Sarmad
Syrian authorities have begun delivering gasoline to Iraq via the Baniyas oil terminal, under a three-month agreement.
Translated by Qiyas from سرمد — Original source
Syrian authorities announced on Sunday that they began this week to deliver imported gasoline to Iraq, following the disruption of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz due to the war in the Middle East.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported: “The Syrian Petroleum Company has commenced operations to transport gasoline supplied to Iraq via the Baniyas oil terminal.”
The agency noted that the move falls “within the framework of a three-month renewable agreement to secure energy supplies, amid disruptions to navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The agency quoted Ahmad Qabba Ji, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the Transport and Storage Sector at the Syrian Petroleum Company, as saying: “Gasoline shipments to Iraq began on Thursday, with 57 tankers in the first batch, and efforts are underway to increase operational capacity to approximately 200 tankers daily via the Tanf border crossing.”
He added that the Qatari company UCC is responsible for purchasing the material from various global sources, while Syrian authorities handle its transportation in exchange for transit fees.
Qabba Ji pointed out that transit operations “generate revenues for the company and the state, and support Syria’s role as a corridor for imports, exports, and the transport of goods and energy between countries in the region.”
In early April, Iraq announced the start of transporting oil via trucks across Syrian territory for export purposes, due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
On Sunday, Qabba Ji stated that “the number of tankers currently being transported ranges between 1,000 and 1,200 tankers per day.”
Since coming to power in late 2024 following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, the new Syrian authorities have been seeking to revive the country’s economy and rebuild infrastructure severely damaged by more than a decade of war.
Syrian officials said that a memorandum of understanding related to the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline had been concluded with the Iraqi side, and that negotiations had reached their final stages to convert the memorandum into a contract, paving the way for the commencement of on-the-ground implementation.
