Syria as an alternative energy corridor: promising opportunities or just political illusions?

In Syria, there is widespread debate about the possibility of rebuilding the national economy by exploiting the country’s geographical location as a land and sea road node that can extend oil and gas pipelines from the Gulf states to Syrian lands and ports all the way to Europe in a project to exploit the energy crisis resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Opportunities that can be promising, but without achieving them there are obstacles and conditions.

It is enough for US President Donald Trump to declare that Syria could be the alternative land corridor to the Strait of Hormuz, supported by his envoy to Syria and his ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, for many to get excited about the idea and tickle their imagination as if it would soon become an undoubted reality.

It is enough for many people to contemplate Trump’s weather and mood swings and his ease in constructing and demolishing statements in one look until they pause carefully at the man’s credibility and ability, as well as his desire to turn Syria into an artery for the global economy, lavishing it with money and economic interests, putting it in the realm of rich countries.

The idea is undoubtedly not separate from the urgent need to escape from the Iranian hand that is holding the world where it is suffering, but at best it is nothing more than a partial, incomplete solution that lacks internal security and political pillars that have not yet been achieved, and the financing condition that is organically linked to the stability of these pillars remains unavailable so far, especially since an expected Iranian-American agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could make this drama a mere fantasy inspired by the imagination.

But the Syrians are looking for an economic foothold within these developments, encouraged by unprecedented support from the international community and Iraq’s move to market its oil through Syrian territory, reaching the port of Baniyas on the Mediterranean coast. Perhaps in this is the progress of the happiness that the Syrians are optimistic about, even if it came from the mouth of Trump, who erases what he said during the night.

The administration of US President Donald Trump had supported a project for a coalition led by Chevron, which aims to transport two million barrels of oil daily from Basra in southern Iraq to Baniyas via a route that Iraqi trucks take today through Syrian territory to reach the port of Baniyas on the Mediterranean coast.

The project is about a thousand miles long and its cost is estimated at $5.7 billion, while it will take at least two and a half years to build.

Economist Issa Abboud believes that thinking about reviving Syria's role as a global energy corridor does not come by reviving outdated plans such as rehabilitating and operating the Baniyas-Kirkuk pipeline, which has been suspended since 1982 and whose capacity does not exceed 300 thousand barrels.

Abboud confirmed in his speech to RT that no one is thinking about repairing this line, but everyone wants to maintain its path by establishing 3 or 4 lines that pump two to three million barrels of oil per day, referring to the competition that took place to sign this contract between the French company Total, supported by French President Macron, and the American company Chevron, which won it in the end.

The economic expert pointed out that these projects are taking place in stages from two to four years, but the first stage may allow pumping one to two million barrels per day, as this project seems obligatory for Iraq, which produces 3 million barrels of oil per day, which provides more than 95 percent of the budget, and its economy will suffocate if it is not able to export the oil it has, and therefore it hastened to knock on the Syrian gate.

The economic expert stressed that history serves Syria in light of field developments in the Strait of Hormuz. In the last century, the Tapline line extended from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the port of Baniyas and originally reached the port of Sidon in the 1940s, indicating that there is a serious study to revive it under huge conditions and quantities.

Abboud pointed out that the matter is not limited to Saudi Arabia or oil alone, but extends to Qatar and its gas, as the Qataris have actually begun studying the extension of a gas pipeline to Turkey, and the Syrians have proposed through the (four plus one) project that there should also be an export arm to Baniyas.

Political analyst Ibrahim Al-Ali confirms that the project to transform Syria into an alternative energy corridor is permissible in principle, but it requires the availability of many conditions, the most important of which is security, which cannot be assured with the presence of ISIS cells in the country. The line also passes through western Iraq, where factions loyal to Iran are active and could threaten it if a settlement with Tehran is not reached.

On the other hand, economic and political experts believe that this project is not possible to achieve, primarily due to political and security considerations. Economic analyst Ghadfan Ibrahim believes that the lack of successful management of an economic file of this importance makes the idea of ​​achieving it impossible.