Washington: The administration of US President Donald Trump intends to announce plans to revive a five-decade-old pipeline running from Iraq to the Syrian port of Banias. Iraq, Syria, and the United States plan to revive the historic 500-mile pipeline to the Syrian coast on the Mediterranean Sea as part of efforts to reduce Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz, senior Iraqi and regional officials told Middle East Eye.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the sources told the website that an agreement to revive the pipeline, which originally ran from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk to the Syrian coastal city of Banias, is expected to be announced next week, coinciding with Prime Minister Ali Zaidi's meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

The pipeline was completed in 1952 by the Iraq Petroleum Company, with a capacity of approximately 300,000 barrels per day. Baghdad shut it down in the 1980s. The pipeline also suffered extensive damage following the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and is now effectively out of service.

The pipeline requires extensive repairs, including the construction of new storage facilities and the installation of modern pumps and electrical systems. A senior regional official told Middle East Eye that the pipeline will likely need to be completely replaced, a process that could take two to three years. He added that a consortium of US companies has already been contracted for the reconstruction work, indicating the US commitment to the project.

The Kirkuk-Banias pipeline has gained increasing importance as Iran tightens its control over the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli war. During this period, Iraq began exporting crude oil via Syria using tanker trucks, although the volumes exported were modest.

According to regional sources, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sheibani is expected to visit the US to participate in the signing ceremony for the pipeline agreement.

Earlier this month, the Iraqi government approved a preliminary agreement with the US companies Capital TI and Chevron, along with a Qatari company, to study pipeline projects extending to the port of Banias from Kirkuk and Haditha, the oil hub in Iraq's Anbar province.