US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: The planned crude oil pipeline connecting Iraq’s oilfields to Syria’s Mediterranean port of Baniyas is projected to take at least four years to build and cost upwards of $15 billion, according to industry sources. While U.S. and regional officials have aggressively pushed the project to bypass the volatile, conflict-disrupted Strait of Hormuz, energy experts caution that the timeline is much longer than the 2-to-3-year estimate initially floated by Syrian state officials.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Iraq’s $15-Billion Syria Oil Pipeline
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The Route: The pipeline network will move crude from production hubs like Basra and Haditha in Iraq through to the Mediterranean port of Baniyas in Syria.
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The Capacity: It is designed to handle an initial transport capacity of 2 million barrels per day (bpd). This provides a massive scale-up from the 300,000 bpd capacity of the historic, defunct Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline system.
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The Backing: The project is supported by a U.S.-sponsored deal. Technical and financial feasibility studies are currently being conducted by a consortium that includes U.S. major Chevron, TI Capital, and Qatar’s UCC Holding.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Why Is It Taking Four Years?
While early projections assumed a simpler “rehabilitation” of the old 1950s Kirkuk-Baniyas line, sources directly involved revealed that entirely new infrastructure must be built from scratch. The surviving portions of the historic line are heavily war-damaged and incompatible with modern technical specifications. The project timeline must also account for clearing out old infrastructure and acquiring fresh land-use rights from Syria’s administration.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Broader Geopolitical Context
The project has gained intense urgency due to the ongoing Iran war, which has heavily restricted maritime shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Iraq is particularly vulnerable, as its oil exports plummeted by over 50% following the shutdown of its southern Gulf terminals.
While U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that underground pipelines would make the Strait “irrelevant” within two years, energy analysts warn that pipelines traveling across Iraq and Syria merely shift the danger, leaving the infrastructure highly vulnerable to drone and missile strikes by localized militias.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Greater Energy Shift
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Strait of Hormuz Alternatives: Nearly 20% of global oil passed through the Hormuz chokepoint before the conflict. With transit mostly crippled, regional producers are aggressively constructing overland safe routes.
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Saudi Petroline Scaling: Bypassing Hormuz entirely, Saudi Arabia is optimizing its 1,200 km East-West Petroline to the Red Sea, scaling emergency capacity from 5 million up to 7 million bpd.
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The Persian Gulf Canal: Gulf states are floating preliminary discussion plans for a massive desert canal linking the Persian Gulf directly to the Arabian Sea to secure long-term maritime logistics.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Infrastructure Hurdles
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Total Rebuild Needed: While initially billed as a quick fix for the historic 1952 Kirkuk-Baniyas line (which has been closed since the 2003 U.S. invasion), engineers found the existing pipes too heavily war-damaged to salvage.
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The Reality of Capacity: Though U.S. officials anticipate an ultimate capacity of 2 to 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd), Chevron executives caution that pipelines do not launch at 100% capacity on day one.
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Geopolitical Red Tape: Construction requires coordinating complex land-use rights across volatile desert terrain managed by Syria’s administration.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Technical Blueprint
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The Dual-Route Plan: Unveiled by Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, the project creates a transit grid connecting southern oilfields (like Basra) to Haditha, splitting into two export channels—one heading north to Faysh Khabur and the main trans-Syrian route running 800 kilometres to Baniyas.
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Field Integration: U.S. supermajor Chevron is tying the pipeline development directly to negotiations to enter Iraq’s massive southern oilfields, West Qurna 2 and Nassiriya.
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The Consortium: Development and financing are being handled under a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) framework by Chevron, Qatari-Syrian firm UCC Holding, and U.S. investment fund TI Capital.
The proposed $15-billion, 2–2.5 million bpd Iraq-to-Syria pipeline is a long-term strategic project aimed at bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, requiring a four-year, top-down construction timeline rather than offering immediate energy crisis relief.Â
Backed by a major consortium, this infrastructure project shifts geopolitical vulnerability from maritime routes to overland security risks across 800 kilometers of desert. For immediate supply issues, the market will continue relying on alternatives like Saudi Arabia’s East-West Petroline.
