Tens of kilometers of fuel trucks: Iraqi oil was transported to Europe via Syria

Iraq is looking for any opportunity to export oil from the country so as not to stop production. One of them is through Syria. Tens of kilometers of fuel trucks gathered at the border.

"In early April, an unprecedented contract was signed between Baghdad and Damascus. Hundreds of fuel trucks are now crossing Syria on their way to an oil refinery on the Mediterranean coast. It is expected that several hundred thousand tons of crude oil will be sent from there to Europe," Franceinfo reports.

The publication gives an example of a trucker Ahmad, who made a seventeen-day trip from Mosul on a fuel tanker on a new route.

The new route cannot be compared with the export through the Strait of Hormuz, but it is at least something. A stream of 38 kilometers of fuel trucks gathered at the border crossing to Syria.

"There are a lot of traffic jams, a lot of waiting," said the driver Issa, "We stood for fourteen days on the Iraqi side, on hot asphalt and in the heat. It's a desert!".

As the French edition notes, Syria was not ready for such a pandemonium.

"We just need parking spaces, a place where you can cook and sleep," the blocked driver complained.

The refinery in the Syrian Banias, where Iraqi oil is supplied, also needs to be rebuilt a lot. For example, pumping stations are needed, and also require the restoration of about thirty tanks.

"Here is the pipeline of the 1950s, the English system," one of the refinery employees told the publication, pointing to the underwater oil pipeline through which the Mediterranean sea tankers.

The refinery reported that tankers are being loaded for Europe. However, according to AIS, on April 29, Banias had only one tanker, Alberta. They came from China.

"In total, Syria is expected to receive almost 30,000 tons of Iraqi oil per day (about 220 thousand barrels per day). Part is used for the internal needs of the country, the rest is for export," writes Franceinfo. In general, it turns out that they plan to redirect a little more than 5% of exports through Syria.

"This is a good contract," said Ahmed Kubaji, vice president of the Syrian oil company.

According to him, the company earns good money and now the goal is to restore the Kirkuk—Banias pipeline: "We also plan to build new storage facilities to double the capacity in Banias and Tartus.

According to Ahmed Kubaji, the first tanker left Banias this week.

As EADaily reported, oil and gas supply projects from The Persian Gulf towards Europe has existed for several decades, but it has never even reached the design stage — because of the risks and financial costs. Now they are trying to revive them again, as the price of oil has risen to $ 100 per barrel due to the Iranian war, and the cost of gas in Europe is about $ 500 per thousand cubic meters. At the same time, the timing of the opening of the Strait of Hormuz is unknown, which brings even more fears to the world market that the world may face a shortage.