Story perspectives

Iraq Plans $15B Pipeline to Cut Hormuz Reliance

8/13/2026

Summary

Iraq Funds Pipeline

Iraq is spending $15 bn on a pipeline that could move 2 mn barrels of crude per day, Oil Minister Basem Mohammed Khudair said.
Reliance Industries booked a supertanker to lift 2 mn barrels of Iraqi crude from Basrah, paying $23-25 mn freight versus $2 mn before the war.
At least 17 seafarers have been killed as Iranian drones attacked tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Summary

Bessent Targets Hormuz

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington will try to make the Strait of Hormuz irrelevant within two years by expanding pipelines.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an Arabian-Peninsula pipeline network to Israel’s Mediterranean ports could end reliance on Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb.
Analyst Rahman Ghahremanpour warned that pipelines are vulnerable to Iranian and Houthi drones, especially for Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, which lack external coastlines.

History

Historical Context

After ARAMCO finished the Trans-Arabian Pipeline in 1950—saving about 3,200 km of sea travel and reducing reliance on the Strait of Hormuz—U.S. firms such as Bechtel built it, and the line ran until its 1983 shutdown amid regional turmoil. In 2023 Iraq announced plans to reactivate the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline, echoing the historic bypass strategy.

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Iraq Funds Pipeline

Iraq is spending $15 bn on a pipeline that could move 2 mn barrels of crude per day, Oil Minister Basem Mohammed Khudair said.
Reliance Industries booked a supertanker to lift 2 mn barrels of Iraqi crude from Basrah, paying $23-25 mn freight versus $2 mn before the war.
At least 17 seafarers have been killed as Iranian drones attacked tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

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