Iraq advances the Basra-Haditha pipeline: Iraq’s cabinet gave the oil ministry the go-ahead to invite specialized companies to bid for the Basra-Haditha crude pipeline, pushing the USD 4.6 bn project toward a tender process.

The planned line would move crude from Southern Iraq to the north, creating an alternative export route and bypassing Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. The pipeline is designed to carry around 2.3 mn bbl / d while helping feed Turkey’s Silopi-Ceyhan link.

Baghdad’s already been working fallback routes: Iraq has been trying to revive a long-idle stretch of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline to move crude north to Turkey’s Ceyhan port without crossing the Kurdistan region.

Why it matters: Once the disruption in Hormuz choked Iraqi exports, storage filled up and southern output fell to around 800k bbl / d — exposing how little room Baghdad has when its main Gulf outlet is blocked.

The pattern: Gulf states are leaning more heavily on export pipelines that bypass Hormuz, with existing infrastructure taking on a larger share of flows and reviving interest in expansion projects once seen as too costly or complex, pushing pipeline capacity and cross-border corridor plans back into focus.

That’s not all Iraq is doing: The cabinet also gave the green light to the Iraqi Oil Tanker Company to lease available crude carriers in the Gulf for storage purposes to extend refinery operations. It also allowed the company to arrange overland crude transport from the southern port of Khor Al Zubair to northern hubs in Kirkuk.

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