Syria and Iraq announced on Monday, June 29, 2026, an agreement to form a higher committee for joint coordination and launch a strategic project to rehabilitate oil pipelines between the two countries, in a move described as the most prominent in the file of bilateral relations between the two countries in decades.
The announcement in a joint statement followed intensive talks in Damascus between the Syrian foreign and energy ministers and Iraq's deputy prime minister and foreign minister Fuad Hussein, who arrived in Syria on the highest visit since the recent political transitions, reflecting a new level of rapprochement between the two countries.
The announcement included a set of outputs of a strategic and economic nature, most notably the formation of a high coordination committee headed by the two foreign ministers, to follow up on the implementation of political and diplomatic cooperation files, and activate joint communication channels.
Intensifying Security Cooperation
The two sides agreed to launch a technical plan to rehabilitate the Iraqi oil pipeline network through Syrian territory to the Mediterranean seaports (Baniyas and Tartous), giving Iraq a strategic outlet for exporting oil to global markets, and constituting a vital alternative to navigation traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
The agreement included the formation of specialized sectoral committees concerned with energy, agriculture, transport and border crossings, with the aim of accelerating field work and unifying technical procedures between the concerned institutions in the two countries.
The two parties agreed to strengthen technical coordination on the management of water resources, especially with regard to the Euphrates River, in order to serve the agricultural sector and enhance economic integration between Damascus and Baghdad, while stressing the intensification of direct security cooperation to protect the common borders and secure supply and trade lines, in light of the escalating regional challenges.
These steps come as an extension of the path of rapprochement that began with the gradual reopening of land crossings, and the continuation of the implementation of memorandums of understanding for the rehabilitation of major energy pipelines, such as the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline project, which is one of the most important oil linkage projects between the two countries.
$8 billion to rehabilitate the Kirkuk-Banias line
Economic reports revealed that the expected export capacity of the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline ranges between 300 and 700 thousand barrels per day in the special emergency phase until the completion of the comprehensive rehabilitation works, and this phase depends on the historical design capacity of the 800 km pipeline with the possibility of raising the pumping after treating the choke points and damaged parts at a cost of more than $8 billion.
Iraqi sources said that the long-term strategic plans for Iraq and Syria are moving towards the establishment of a completely new pipeline network parallel to the old route, due to the extensive destruction of infrastructure since 2003, and the future vision includes the operation of two independent pipelines, the first to transport heavy crude oil with a capacity of up to 1.5 million barrels per day, and the second for light crude oil with a capacity of 1.25 million barrels per day, which gives the project extensive operational flexibility and the ability to meet the needs of different markets.