Iraq gets Preliminary Approval from Saudi to Revive Oil Export Pipeline

Saudi Arabia has given preliminary approval to revive a long-idle oil export pipeline with Iraq, but the project would require a replacement line, with Baghdad covering part of the cost, said sources.

The 1,568-kilometer pipeline runs from Iraq’s Zubair oilfield in Basra province to the Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu. The infrastructure has been out of service since August 1990, following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the outbreak of the Gulf War.

The sources said Iraq has repeatedly raised the proposal with Riyadh, which expressed willingness to update the bilateral agreement once joint technical committees are formed. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have renewed interest in the route.

According to the sources, Saudi Arabia favours a replacement because rehabilitating the existing line would cost nearly as much as building a new one. The sources said Riyadh has repurposed its section to carry Saudi crude from the east to the Red Sea, so Iraq would have to rebuild its own section and the two countries would need a political understanding.