ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syria has begun transporting a gasoline shipment to Iraq through the Baniyas oil terminal under a three-month renewable agreement, as Baghdad seeks alternative energy routes amid disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Syrian state news agency SANA reported Sunday.
The first shipments began on Thursday, with 57 tanker trucks transporting gasoline to Iraq through the al-Tanf border crossing, the agency cited Ahmad Qabbahji, vice executive president for transport and storage at the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC).
Qabbahji said authorities are working "to raise the operational capacity to approximately 200 tankers per day" via the border crossing, adding that Syria is currently facilitating the movement of between 1,000 and 1,200 Iraqi crude-oil tanker trucks per day.
The new gasoline import and crude oil export route comes as Iraq continues efforts to diversify its energy supply and crude-export corridors amid severe disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Iran war broke out in late February.
The imports also come amid a deepening fuel shortage as domestic demand outstrips supply.
Earlier this month, Ali al-Zarkani, a member of the Baghdad Provincial Council, told the official al-Sabah newspaper that Iraq will import gasoline from the United Arab Emirates and other neighboring countries to address the shortage.
He added that the crisis stemmed from an imbalance between refining capacity and surging consumption.
Baghdad alone requires between 9 million and 12 million liters of fuel daily, while Iraq's remaining governorates consume a combined 30 million liters per day, according to Zarkani.
To bridge the gap, the ministry of oil has resorted to importing fuel. Zarkani did not specify the volume or arrival date of gasoline shipments.
The disruption has compelled Baghdad to explore overland and pipeline alternatives as higher shipping and insurance costs continue to weigh on Iraqi crude sales.
Iraq’s oil minister said earlier this month that Baghdad planned to increase exports through Syria and Turkey to more than 1 million bpd. The plan includes rehabilitating the long-dormant Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline, an approximately 800-kilometer corridor linking Iraqi oilfields with Syria’s Mediterranean coast.
In July, Baghdad signed a memorandum of understanding with Damascus and international energy companies to rehabilitate and revive the pipeline. Qabbahji said discussions over the project are now in their final stages to convert the MoU into a binding contract ahead of field implementation.
