Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq has increased its oil exports via the Turkish port of Ceyhan to 500,000 barrels per day—a step aimed to bolster crude oil export outlets away from the Strait of Hormuz, according to the energy-focused website OilPrice.
Iraq has started using tanker trucks to deliver Basra crude to the country’s northern pipeline network. The port of Ceyhan is now exporting about 200,000 barrels of Basra crude per day. The oil is transported from southern oil fields to collecting facilities in Iraqi Kurdistan before being pumped toward the Turkish port.
Since the start of the military conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in March 2026, which significantly disrupted oil production and shipments from the Gulf region, Iraq has become more dependent on alternative export routes.
Crude oil production from Iraq’s southern fields fell by 70 percent during the first weeks of the war, averaging 1.3 million barrels per day—down from approximately 4.3 million barrels per day prior to the conflict—before showing signs of recovery in the past few months as exports via alternative routes increased.
Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Khudair reported last month that the country’s oil exports reached pre-war levels in October, surpassing 3.4 million barrels per day.
Khudair mentioned that Iraq aims to revive a long-term pipeline project designed to transport crude oil to the Syrian coast along the Mediterranean, thereby bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. However, he noted that the project’s implementation could take three to four years.
