Iraq begins importing gasoline via Syrian port to bypass the closed Strait of Hormuz

BANIYAS, Syria — Iraqi fuel trucks loaded gasoline at a Syrian port on Tuesday in a bid to meet surging energy demand as the critical Strait of Hormuz remains closed and mediators work with Iran and the United States to end the war.

The disruption of the strait has sent shock waves through the global economy, prompting countries to scramble for alternatives and sending fuel prices soaring. A fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas transited through the narrow waterway before the war.

Syria, under interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, who ousted longtime leader Bashar Assad in December 2024, has seized the opportunity to bolster the country’s economy by providing an alternative route through the Baniyas port. Markets including the United States and Europe have been using the port.

Iraq has been exporting oil to foreign markets for months by trucking it through Baniyas as a workaround to the closure of Hormuz. Now, through a three-month agreement between the two, Iraq has begun importing gasoline via Syria; the first shipment to Iraq arrived at the port on Thursday.

Under the deal, the Qatar-based conglomerate UCC purchases the gasoline, and Syria manages transportation and receives transit fees. The shipments are then transported by land to Iraq from the northwestern port through al-Tanf in southeastern Syria.

Ahmed Qubbaji, deputy head of the state-run Syrian Petroleum Company, said Tuesday that Syria is working to bring in 200 tankers daily to Iraq.

“We are thinking of setting up pipelines from Iraq to Syria via the sea through other countries,” he told The Associated Press. “So we are not looking at interim projects, but thinking strategically for the long term.”