Expert: Banias pipeline is unusable for resuming Iraqi oil exports
Expert: Banias pipeline is unusable for resuming Iraqi oil exports
5-23-2026
Information / Baghdad…
Oil expert Hamza al-Jawahiri denied on Saturday the existence of any technical obstacles or lengthy timeframes that might delay the reactivation of oil wells and pipelines that were shut down due to the departure of foreign company personnel because of regional security conditions, or as a result of the halt in exports, as some have claimed.
Al-Jawahiri told the Information Agency that “talk of problems hindering a rapid return to production at the closed sites is inaccurate,” noting a limited exception related to “a few old wells that produce water associated with crude oil, as this category specifically requires time to extract pure oil.”
He added that “the Iraqi oil pipeline reaching the Syrian port of Banias cannot be repaired or restarted to serve national exports again due to its extensive deterioration,” while simultaneously calling on the federal government to “establish large storage facilities and tanks for Iraqi oil in China and India to ensure a strategic reserve that protects the country in the event of natural disasters or security tensions that prevent exports, such as the current threats to close the Strait of Hormuz.”
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