Three Aframaxes open first Syria-US route for Iraqi fuel oil

Three Aframax tankers have loaded cargoes of Iraqi fuel oil at Syria's Baniyas terminal for delivery to the United States Gulf Coast, establishing the first US-bound fuel oil flow to originate from a Syrian port, according to shipping data. One vessel departed Baniyas in mid-June carrying a substantial cargo, discharging part of it in the Bahamas in mid-July with the remainder scheduled for delivery in Texas. A second vessel loaded a smaller cargo and departed in early July, with discharge on the US Gulf Coast expected in early August, while a third loaded in mid-to-late July and is due to reach the United States in the third week of August.

The fuel oil moved along the route originates in Iraq and is transported by road tanker across the Syrian border before being placed into storage and loaded onto vessels at Baniyas. The corridor is new, although the United States has previously imported Iraqi fuel oil through direct shipments, with no such direct cargo having reached the country for several months before this route opened.

Baniyas has been loading an Iraqi fuel oil tanker roughly every one to two weeks since early May, supported by a steady flow of road tankers arriving at the terminal each day. The transit operation began in mid-April, when the first shipment was loaded following an initial convoy of Iraqi road tankers crossing into Syria through a designated border crossing. The same corridor has also been used to move cargoes bound for Spain and Egypt.

Syria's fuel oil exports have grown substantially since the corridor opened, with Baniyas increasingly functioning as an outlet for Iraqi supplies moving through the country. Iraq has been developing the route as part of a broader effort to diversify its export options and reduce its reliance on Gulf terminals for fuel oil shipments, giving it an alternative pathway to international markets that does not depend solely on Gulf shipping lanes.

The route's opening comes as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz continue to disrupt normal shipping patterns in the Gulf, and the corridor is expected to remain in use even once conditions in the strait return to normal, reflecting Iraq's broader strategic interest in maintaining multiple export pathways for its fuel oil production.