Mohammed Bashir, Syria’s Minister of Energy, along with an accompanying delegation, has made an official visit to Baghdad and is scheduled to meet with several senior officials from Iraq’s energy sector.

According to Syria’s official news agency SANA, “the purpose of the visit is to discuss several strategic issues, most notably the reactivation of the Kirkuk–Baniyas oil pipeline, as well as coordination mechanisms for joint water resource projects.”

Bashir’s visit comes at the formal invitation of Iraq’s Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Oil, with the aim of reaching mutual understanding on “the transfer of oil from Iraq to Syria, and from there to the Mediterranean Sea through Syria’s Baniyas port.”

During the trip, Bashir also met with Iraq’s Minister of Water Resources to “develop a plan and reach agreement on the issue of water scarcity and the obstacles posed by reduced flows in the Euphrates River.”

The Kirkuk–Baniyas oil pipeline was built in 1950, stretching 800 kilometers, connecting the oil fields of Iraq’s Kirkuk province to Syria’s Baniyas oil terminal on the Mediterranean coast in northwestern Syria.

The idea of restoring oil exports via Baniyas has gained momentum since 2023, when the Kirkuk–Ceyhan pipeline between Iraq and Turkey was shut down.