Iraq and Syria have agreed to commission an international consultant to assess the feasibility of reopening the Kirkuk-Baniyas oil pipeline, a historic export route that has been idle for over two decades.  The move, announced following high-level meetings between the two nations, which have agreed to form a joint technical committee to oversee the evaluation, signals a major step toward re-establishing one of the Middle East’s most strategically important energy corridors.  According to the announcement, this committee will work with the consultant to assess the line's structural integrity, pumping systems, and rehabilitation options.  Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani confirmed the plan. He told Reuters the study aims to determine if the line, which suffered extensive damage during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, can be restored to help diversify Iraq’s crude export routes.  Built in 1952, the approximately 800-kilometer pipeline once transported crude from Iraq's northern fields to the Syrian port of Baniyas on the Mediterranean Sea, offering Iraq a direct, shorter path to European markets.  Designed to transport 300,000 barrels per day, its operations ceased in 2003, and multiple efforts to restart the line since then have failed due to security concerns, political hurdles, and aging infrastructure.  For Iraq, reviving the pipeline would provide a crucial alternative to its southern Gulf ports, which are close to the geopolitical risks of the Strait of Hormuz, and help offset capacity lost since the Iraq-Turkey pipeline to Ceyhan closed in 2023.  Syria, meanwhile, could benefit from a modest but critical revenue stream to aid its economic recovery and enhance its role as a regional transit hub. However, analysts caution that the project faces significant challenges.  Professor Hassan Hazouri of the University of Aleppo noted that success hinges on "stable security guarantees, substantial investment... and assurances that sanctions will not restrict access to European buyers."  Estimates for a full restoration could reach $8 billion, with neither country disclosing the appointed consulting firm. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: Pipeline Technology Journal