Iraq turns to trucks to export oil in overland Syrian route revival

BASRA, Iraq: Outside a depot near Basra, hundreds of tanker trucks queue to load Iraqi crude oil bound for the Syrian port of Baniyas via an overland desert route which had been largely unused for decades.

Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, has been working to find alternative export routes for its oil since the Strait of Hormuz, its usual outlet, was disrupted by the Iran war.

Despite higher transportation costs, the overland route has also regained appeal because of an end to years of conflict in Syria, two people close to the matter told Reuters.

Although ⁠Iraq exports most ⁠of its crude from Gulf terminals, the Syrian route has become a small but strategically significant alternative for moving cargoes of heavy crude.