Iraq Resumes Crude Exports Through Syria After 15-Year Halt
Key Facts
Iraq has resumed land exports of crude oil through Syria for the first time in 15 years, according to a description of footage documented by Reuters on 15 September 2026 showing trucks carrying Iraqi oil to a Syrian oil terminal. The route reopens a land corridor toward the Mediterranean at a time when Iraqi exports through the Strait of Hormuz have been disrupted, according to previous reports. The move is financially significant for Baghdad, as oil accounts for at least 90% of the country’s revenues. But figures circulating on daily crude flows, planned shipment volumes and sales discounts are not based here on an open source that can be verified. Confirmed details of the resumption are therefore limited to the use of trucks, the Syrian route and the return of crude exports after a long interruption.
The move follows Syria’s use as a route for other Iraqi oil products. The National reported that Syria has been an alternative route for Iraqi fuel oil exports since April 2026, and that at least 2.1 million tonnes had been transported by truck to the port of Baniyas by the time the report was published on 9 October. This distinguishes two separate flows: fuel oil shipments that had already been transported over several months, and crude exports documented by Reuters in September. The Associated Press also reported that month that Iraq had been moving oil to foreign markets by truck through Baniyas for months, describing the route as a workaround for the closure of Hormuz. This sequence indicates that the use of Syria did not begin with crude shipments: fuel oil transport came first, before the later documented resumption of crude transit.
The backdrop to the maritime disruption is set out in the International Energy Agency’s estimates for March 2026. The agency said Iraq’s crude supply fell by 3 million barrels per day month on month to 1.6 million barrels per day, while crude volumes transiting the Strait of Hormuz fell by 3.4 million barrels per day to just under 40 thousand barrels per day. In April, Iraqi Oil Marketing Company Director General Ali Nizar Al-Shatri announced the signing of a contract to transport 50 thousand barrels per day by truck from southern fields to the port of Baniyas for export, according to the agency. These figures show that land transport was part of the response to falling supply and export traffic in the spring. The April contract also shows that trucking crude to Syria was under consideration before the footage was documented in September.
But the overland route does not match exports through the strait in efficiency or capacity. The Associated Press said land transport is less efficient and more expensive than shipping exports through Hormuz, and that the proposed pipeline project would allow larger volumes to be exported from Iraq to Syria and Turkey. The comparison highlights the limits of relying on trucks, even as they provide an existing route to Baniyas. In September, SANA quoted Iraq’s oil minister as saying the government aims to raise export capacity to 5 million barrels per day after strategic pipeline routes toward Fishkhabour and Baniyas are completed, alongside outlets through the Strait of Hormuz. This places land transport within broader plans to expand export routes, while pipelines remain part of the stated goal.
The impact of any additional outlet will depend on how much it can carry and Iraq’s ability to restore its usual exports. The National reported that the country’s exports were about 3.3 million barrels per day before the war, while Iraq relies on oil for at least 90% of its revenues. The report also linked the agreement between Baghdad and Damascus to the disruption of Iraqi oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz since the war in Iran began in February 2026. This background provides a measure of the financial and logistical challenge facing Iraq, without by itself establishing how much the Syrian route has added to exports since crude transport resumed. The next announced step remains tied to completing the strategic pipeline routes that the oil minister said would support a rise in export capacity to 5 million barrels per day.