''For the Saudi Road see: Trans-Arabian_Pipeline#Tapline_Road'' The Petroleum Road or Tapline Road (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: כביש הנפט, ''Kvish HaNeft'') is a privately owned north–south asphalt road in the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

. It is long. It begins near

Mount Peres Mount Peres ( ar, تل الفرس, ''Tall al-Faras'', he, הר פֶּרֶס, ''Har Peres'') is a volcanic mountain located in central Golan Heights, some east of Moshav Keshet. Its highest point is above sea level, or about above ground level ...

on the east edge of the central Golan, and ends in the northern Golan near the Israeli-occupied Golan-Lebanese frontier, nearby

Ghajar Ghajar ( ar, غجر, he, ע'ג'ר or ) is an Alawite-Arab village on the Hasbani River, on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied portion of Syria's Golan Heights. In , it had a population of . History Early history Control ov ...

. Most of the road is marked on maps as inaccessible to traffic because of poor road quality.The Hebrew guide מדריך כרטא, (''Madrikh Karta''), by Azaria Alon, , uses the term כביש משובש ("broken road") for the entire route. Another map, published by ''Mapa'' (http://www.mapa.co.il) in 2001, uses a similar term for the portion between

Highway 91 The following highways are numbered 91: International * European route E91 Australia * Cairns Western Arterial Road * Summerland Way Brasil * SP-91, state highway in Sao Paulo Canada * British Columbia Highway 91 ** British Columbia Highway 9 ...

and Route 959. The name ''Petroleum Road'' derives from the now defunct

oil pipeline Pipeline transport is the long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas through a system of pipes—a pipeline—typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 count ...

of the

Trans-Arabian Pipeline Company The Trans-Arabian Pipeline (Tapline), was an oil pipeline from Qaisumah in Saudi Arabia to Sidon in Lebanon, active between 1950–1976. In its heyday, it was an important factor in the global trade of petroleum, as well as in American–Middle ...

, which the road runs adjacent to. The ''Tapline'', as it is abbreviated, originated in the oil fields of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

, then proceeded through

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

until reaching its oil export terminal in

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

on the coast of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

. Even though Israel came to control the section of the Tapline through the Golan after the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

it permitted its operation to continue. However, although it was the largest pipeline system in the world when it was completed in 1950, the Tapline had ceased all operations by 1990. The Golan Heights section stopped transporting petroleum in 1976. Since the road diagonally bisects the entire length of the northern portion of the Golan Heights, it was the site of many battles fought along its axis during the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

in 1973.

The road

The length of the road that accompanies the pipeline in the Golan Heights is . The southernmost 2 km were destroyed when Israel constructed its forward line of defensive

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere ...

s opposite the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria after the Six-Day War. In addition, the northernmost 4 km is generally not considered part of the Petroleum Road, but is rather part of Route 999. Since the Petroleum Road is a private road, not maintained by the Israeli transport authority, it has not been assigned a number.

Intersections on the route

Places of interest on the route

* Mount Paras * Keshet Yehonatan Field School in Keshet * Memorial monument for the IDF's

188th Armored Brigade The 188th "Barak" (Lightning) Armored Brigade is an Israeli armored brigade, subordinate to Israel's Northern Regional Command. The emblem of the Barak Armored Brigade is a red-bordered rhombus bearing a sword against a blue and white background ...

* Orvim creek nature reserve * A view of

Tel Faher Tel Faher (or Golani Lookout) is a former Syrian outpost in the Golan Heights that has been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967. Tel Faher was the site of an intense battle between the Israel Defense Forces and the Syrians which ende ...

, where the

Golani Brigade The 1st "Golani" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת גּוֹלָנִי) is an Israeli military infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigade ...

fought a battle *

Banias Banias or Banyas ( ar, بانياس الحولة; he, בניאס, label=Modern Hebrew; Judeo-Aramaic, Medieval Hebrew: פמייס, etc.; grc, Πανεάς) is a site in the Golan Heights near a natural spring, once associated with the Greek g ...

archaeological site

References

External links

TAPLINE
{{coord, 33, 0, 55, N, 35, 45, 58, E, display=title Golan Heights Roads in Israeli-occupied territories