Syria-Iraq Oil Pipeline Revival Challenges Israel's Regional Energy Role

Iraq and Syria have signed a memorandum of understanding to rehabilitate the historic oil pipeline connecting Kirkuk in northern Iraq to the Syrian port of Baniyas on the Mediterranean coast. The 800-kilometer pipeline, inactive since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, aims to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has intermittently closed amid its conflicts with the US and Israel. The project has received strong support from the US State Department, which called it of "bilateral and regional strategic importance." American oil giant Chevron is reportedly in advanced talks to join an international consortium, alongside a Qatari holding company and an American investment firm, to lead the pipeline's restoration.

In recent months, Iraq has already begun transporting oil by truck into Syria, where it is loaded onto tankers at Baniyas for export, initially to Europe and now reportedly also to the US. This emerging route strengthens Syria's economic and political position under President Bashar al-Assad, as it channels revenue into his regime's coffers. However, this development presents a strategic dilemma for Israel. While the project undermines Iran's leverage over regional oil exports, it also diminishes Israel's potential to become a central energy transit hub connecting Middle Eastern oil to Europe.

According to Vita Avrahmov from the Israeli Institute for Strategy and Security, the direct land route from Iraq to the Mediterranean through Syria reduces the need for alternative routes that would pass through Israel, such as proposals involving the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline and energy networks linked to Gulf states. This shift weakens Israel's regional economic and diplomatic standing, especially as normalization talks with Saudi Arabia remain stalled following the October 7 conflict. The Syrian-Iraqi pipeline is part of a broader Gulf effort to diversify export routes around the Strait of Hormuz, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE expanding their own pipelines through the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman. As more countries succeed in bypassing the strait, Israel risks losing its role as a key energy corridor in the region.