Washington: Iraq and Syria signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington to rehabilitate the Iraq-Syria crude oil pipeline, a project aimed at reviving a significant export route from Iraqi oil fields to Syria's Mediterranean coast.

According to Anadolu Agency, the agreement was finalized during the US-Iraq Business Council meeting, with Bassem Abdul Karim Nasr, head of Basra Oil Company, representing Iraq, and Youssef Qablawi, CEO of the Syrian Petroleum Company, representing Syria. The signing ceremony was attended by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who, alongside the US State Department, acknowledged the project's importance as a priority infrastructure endeavor with strategic bilateral and regional significance.

The US State Department expressed its support for the involvement of a US-led international consortium responsible for executing the project's technical and financial components. The department emphasized the project's landmark status for regional cooperation and Syria-Iraq relations, highlighting its initial transport capacity of 2 million barrels of crude oil per day.

The Iraqi News Agency (INA) corroborated the signing of the memorandum, noting US energy company Chevron's role in implementing the project to link Haditha in Iraq to Baniyas in Syria. In addition, the agency reported that Iraq plans to finalize 50 agreements and memorandums of understanding with the US, collectively valued at $60 billion.

The pipeline, originating from the oil-rich Kirkuk region in northern Iraq and extending to Syria's Mediterranean port of Baniyas, has been inactive since sustaining damage during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. The announcement coincides with a marked decline in global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, resulting from the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, prompting nations to explore alternative routes.