US Supports Iraq-Syria Oil Pipeline Agreement

On July 17, 2026, the United States endorsed a new agreement between Iraq and Syria to rehabilitate an oil pipeline that aims to provide an alternative route for crude oil exports and lessen dependence on the Strait of Hormuz. The State Department stated that a U.S.-led international consortium will handle the technical and financial aspects of the project, which is expected to have an initial transport capacity of 2 million barrels per day. The agreement was signed during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce summit in Washington, D.C., with Energy Secretary Chris Wright overseeing the ceremony. The pipeline, which connects Kirkuk in northern Iraq to Syria's Mediterranean coast, has been inactive since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and previously had a capacity of approximately 700,000 barrels per day. This project is part of a broader regional effort to find alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for global oil supply.