Nobody, especially not Iraq, wants to be caught relying on Hormuz ever again.
Iraq is preparing to export crude oil and naphtha through Syria’s Mediterranean port of Baniyas, expanding an emergency workaround that emerged after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted the country’s primary export routes and left storage tanks filling up.
According to Reuters, Iraqi officials say the strategy will remain in place even after shipping through Hormuz returns to normal.
That alone says plenty.
Iraq normally exports around 3.6 million barrels of oil per day, with roughly 3.4 million bpd historically flowing through southern Gulf terminals. When Hormuz effectively shut down earlier this year, one of OPEC’s largest producers suddenly found itself heavily exposed to a risk that many policymakers had spent decades treating as hypothetical.
Initial crude exports through Syria are expected to begin as early as July at around 50,000 bpd, with fuel oil shipments already moving by truck to Baniyas for export to markets in Europe and Africa. Syria is expanding facilities at the port and preparing additional unloading infrastructure to handle the growing volumes.
The move is part of a broader trend emerging across the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia relied heavily on its East-West pipeline during the Hormuz disruption. The UAE is pushing ahead with plans to expand export capacity outside the Strait. Iraq is exploring multiple routes through Syria and Turkey. Across the region, energy producers are investing in alternatives rather than assuming Hormuz will always remain available.
And recent events have done little to restore confidence.
While markets initially celebrated the reopening of Hormuz, reality quickly intervened. Negotiations scheduled for Friday in Switzerland were postponed before they even began, the IRGC warned vessels against entering the Strait on the grounds that Washington was already violating the newly signed agreement, and tanker operators remained reluctant to rush back into the world’s most politically sensitive shipping lane.
The result is a region increasingly focused on redundancy.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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