United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump has praised Syria’s Al-Sharaa-led government’s plan to offer the world a new oil transit route that could replace the Strait of Hormuz, which has been declared closed by Iran in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.
In a post on Truth Social, the 80-year-old 47th POTUS wrote, “THIS IS GREAT! Syria is pitching itself as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.”
President Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s government’s plan is simple, they want to route the regional energy and cargo across its territory to Mediterranean ports, offering a new alternative to the heavily contested waterway.
Damascus has offered Iraq to sell its oil in the international markets without getting it transited through the Strait of Hormuz but instead use the opposite route by taking the oil to the west, across Iraq into Syria and send it through Syria’s Mediterranean port of Baniyas.
An old pipeline between the two countries connects Iraq with Baniyas and if revived it will help the flow of two million barrels of crude per day.
Trump has welcomed the project and said a US-led international consortium will help with its technical and financial development. Chevron is also involved in the wider Iraqi oil deals.
The route is already being tested on a much smaller scale.
Oil trucks are currently crossing the Syrian desert, carrying Iraqi crude toward the Mediterranean. From Baniyas, the oil can then be loaded onto tankers and sent toward international markets.
This matters because the Strait of Hormuz has become a major problem for oil shipments during the conflict involving the U.S. and Iran.
Before the war, roughly 23 million barrels of oil a day passed through the strait, making it one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints.
The pipeline will not replace Hormuz overnight. It will cost more and take time to rebuild.
2026-09-03 19:07:00
