Iraq turns to Syria for gasoline as first cargo leaves Baniyas by road

The first gasoline cargo imported for Iraq has begun moving by road from Syria’s Baniyas port to the Iraqi border, as Baghdad seeks alternative energy routes after shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted.

The first gasoline cargo imported for Iraq has begun moving by road from Syria’s Baniyas port toward the Iraqi border, as Baghdad seeks alternative energy supply routes after the Iran war disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Iraq’s main Gulf trade route.

Tareq Shallash, director of the refining directorate at the state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company, told Reuters that the first cargo, about 32,800 metric tons of gasoline aboard the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Avanti, was unloaded into storage tanks at the Baniyas refinery before being loaded onto trucks. He said 77 tanker trucks had already left for the Iraqi border, loading was continuing and further shipments were expected.

The operation is being carried out under a transit contract between the Syrian Petroleum Company and Qatar-based UCC Holding, the supplier overseeing transportation. An Iraqi oil ministry spokesperson said a contract had been signed between Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO and the Qatari company to supply improved gasoline through Baniyas by road tankers, with deliveries arriving regularly.

The move turns the Syrian route into a two-way energy corridor: Baghdad has used it to export fuel since the Hormuz disruption, and Iraqi fuel oil exports through the Baniyas oil port began in April.