Iraqi fuel oil transported to the US via Syria marks a new trade route, with three Aframax tankers departing from Baniyas for the Gulf Coast.
Iraqi Fuel Circumvented Hormuz: Three Aframax Tankers from Baniyas to the USA
Iraqi-origin fuel oil was transported to Syria by hundreds of tanker trucks and then loaded onto three Aframax tankers at Baniyas Port. The cargoes carried by ON PASSION, NISSOS CHRISTINA, and GREEN WARRIOR headed towards the shores of the U.S. Gulf. Thus, for the first time, an Iraqi-origin fuel oil shipment was made to the USA via Syria.
Security issues around the Strait of Hormuz have led to the emergence of an unusual land-sea corridor in oil trade.
The fuel oil produced in Iraq was transported across the Syrian border by tanker trucks to the Mediterranean coast at Baniyas Port. Here, the oil product was loaded onto Aframax-class tankers and sent to terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast. According to a report by Reuters based on Kpler data, these were the first fuel oil shipments directed from Syria to the USA.
The first cargo was assigned to ON PASSION.
ON PASSION departed from Baniyas on June 17 with approximately 716,600 barrels of fuel oil. About 487,600 barrels of the cargo were unloaded in the Bahamas in mid-July. The remaining portion is planned to be discharged in Texas by the end of the month.
NISSOS CHRISTINA loaded approximately 288,500 barrels of fuel oil at Baniyas and departed the port by July 8. The vessel is expected to unload its cargo on the U.S. Gulf Coast in the first days of August.
The third tanker, GREEN WARRIOR, took on approximately 414,400 barrels of cargo between mid and late July. The ship is reported to reach the USA in the third week of August.
900 Tanker Trucks Arrive at the Port Daily
It is reported that approximately 900 tanker trucks transport products from Iraq to the Baniyas terminal daily. Since early May, the terminal has loaded tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil on average every seven to ten days. Products departing from Baniyas have also been sent to Spain and Egypt outside the USA.
It should be particularly noted that this system does not yet involve any pipeline shipments. Iraqi products are transported across the border by tanker trucks, unloaded into storage facilities in Baniyas, and then loaded onto ships.
Syria's facilities have been prepared to load crude oil and naphtha. However, current shipments are limited to fuel oil. There is no verified information indicating that crude oil and naphtha exports have begun.
Iraq-Syria Oil Pipeline Back on the Agenda
It has been announced that the USA supports the revival of the old Iraq-Syria crude oil pipeline that would connect Iraqi oil fields to Syria's Mediterranean coast. However, this effort is a separate project and does not mean that the truck-Baniyas corridor currently in use is being replaced by a pipeline.
Iraqi and Syrian authorities want to continue using the Baniyas route even if traffic through Hormuz returns to normal. The aim is to reduce Iraq's dependence on a single maritime passage for its oil exports.
The significance of this development for Turkey lies in the fact that the search for exits outside Hormuz brings new demand for cargo, storage, and tankers to Eastern Mediterranean ports. The Baniyas route is not a crude oil corridor replacing Ceyhan today. Nevertheless, it is clear that competition over which gate Iraqi oil will exit to the Mediterranean has heated up again.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
