Iraq, Syria sign deal to rebuild oil pipeline bypassing Strait of Hormuz

According to CNBC, Iraq and Syria signed an agreement on Friday to rebuild an oil pipeline that would provide an alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz. The deal was inked at a Chamber of Commerce summit in Washington, D.C., on U.S. investment in Iraq, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright presiding over the signing by Basra Oil Company CEO Bassem Abdul Karim Nasr and Syrian Petroleum Company CEO Youssef Qablawi. The pipeline runs from Kirkuk in northern Iraq to Syria's Mediterranean coast and has a nameplate capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It has been closed since it was damaged during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Iraq's oil production fell more than 50% to about 1.9 million barrels per day in June from around 4.2 million bpd in February before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, according to OPEC data.