30 Tons of Iraqi Oil Pass Through Syria Daily
Between 500 and 700 Iraqi fuel oil tankers, each carrying 30 tons, cross daily into Syria through the al-Walid border crossing in Iraq’s Anbar province, opposite Syria’s al-Tanf crossing, according to Rutba district administrator Imad Mishal.
Mishal told the Iraqi network Rudaw on Monday, April 13, that work is underway at facilities at Syria’s Baniyas port, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, to repair pumps and increase the speed of oil storage.
He added that the crossing can handle the passage of more than 1,000 trucks per day, attributing the lower number of tankers currently passing through to delays in permits reaching the crossing from Iraq’s national center for oil exports.
Mishal also said the Syrian side is working to increase the number of pumps designated to unload Iraqi crude oil tankers to speed up storage operations, noting that the port’s current capacity allows it to store the cargo of 300 tankers per day.
The first convoy of Iraqi fuel oil tankers entered Syrian territory through the al-Tanf border crossing on April 1, heading toward the Baniyas refinery in western Syria, according to the Syrian Ministry of Energy.
The ministry said the shipments are being unloaded into designated storage tanks at the refinery in preparation for transfer to the Baniyas oil terminal and loading onto marine tankers designated for export, according to available handling capacity and through operating mechanisms that, in its words, reflect the readiness of the national infrastructure to manage this type of operation.
Border Crossing Reopened for Convoys
Mazen Alloush, director of Syria’s General Authority for Land and Sea Border Crossings, announced the reopening of the al-Tanf, al-Walid border crossing on March 31, confirming the entry of the first Iraqi oil tanker convoys toward the Baniyas oil terminal.
Alloush said the reopening came as part of efforts to strengthen economic cooperation between Syria and Iraq, adding that the step reflects the “reactivation of commercial transit and the strengthening of transit energy flows through Syrian territory.”
According to Reuters, Iraq’s state oil marketer, SOMO, signed contracts to supply about 650,000 metric tons of fuel oil per month from April through June, to be transported overland through Syria, according to a company document seen by the agency and Iraqi energy officials.
According to two sources familiar with the matter, whom Reuters did not name, the winding down of the war in Syria, along with the Israeli-Iranian war, means that Syrian territory is now the best option, despite its higher cost.
Iraq’s Production Declines
For his part, Mujahid Mardhi al-Dulaimi, head of Iraq’s al-Walid subdistrict, described the transit of Iraqi oil through Syrian territory as an “important indicator” for revitalizing trade movement between the two countries, in remarks to the Iraqi News Agency on March 31.
Iraq had been the second-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and among the first producers to cut output after the war broke out, according to Asharq Business, a website specializing in economic coverage.
Production fell to about 1.2 million barrels per day from a previous 4.3 million barrels per day because storage facilities had filled up, the site quoted Oil Ministry spokesperson Abdul Sahib al-Hasnawi as saying.
The country was also forced to halt operations at its oil ports after Iranian attacks targeted two oil tankers in territorial waters.
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