The Kirkuk–Baniyas pipeline is a currently defunct crude oil pipeline built by the
Iraq Petroleum Company from the
Kirkuk oil field in
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
to the
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
n port of
Baniyas. The pipeline went into operation in April 1952 and was formally opened in November.
The new line looped the
Tripoli branch of the 12-inch
Kirkuk–Haifa oil pipeline and its 16-inch loop line. Four of the old pumping stations were extended and reused: K-1, K-3, T-2 and T-4.
This was the second "Big-Inch" oil pipeline in the Middle East after the 1080 mile
Trans-Arabian Pipeline
The Trans-Arabian Pipeline (Tapline), was an oil pipeline from Qaisumah in Saudi Arabia to Sidon in Lebanon, active 1950–1976. In its heyday, it was an important factor in the global trade of petroleum, as well as in American–Middle Eastern ...
which had just been finished in late 1950.
Construction
The first pipes for the 490 mile, 30/32-inch portion (by
Consolidated Western Steel) between Kirkuk and the
Homs Gap left
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
on 30 September 1950. For the 90 mile segment of 26-inch pipe (by the
National Tube Company) between the Homs Gap and Banias, the first ships departed
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
on 2 October and 13 October. Different diameters were used to allow shipping of a small pipe section inside a large pipe section to reduce transportation costs.
Total steel required was 167,918 tons, 22,273 of 26 inch and 145,645 of 30 and 32 inch pipes. All 26-inch and 96,122 tons of the larger diameters was brought in via Tripoli by lighters and then rail to the depot at Homs. The remaining 49,523 arrived at Basra and from there were brought by railroad to Baiji (K-2). The denesting and jointing plant was moved from Homs to Baiji in November 1951. Shipping requirements were 7 ships for the 26-inch pipes, 18 ships for the larger pipes to Tripoli and 9 to Basra. The 26-inch pipe was seamless 3/8 inch thick. The larger diameters were longitudinally welded 3/8-inch and 7/16-inch. Like with the Transarabian, 3 pipe sections were welded together at the depot and 93ft long pipe hauled by truck to the final resting place along the line. Storage capacity of the entire line (total amount of oil in the pipe) was 2,354,000 bbls to be filled.
The 30-inch pipes were laid at the points of high pressure, downstream from pumping stations. the 32-inch pipes at the sections leading into pumping stations where the pressure would diminish. Total haulage required for the pipes was 527,094 ton miles for 26-inch pipe and 18,349,120 ton miles for the large diameter pipes.
The construction was carried out by
Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California in 1898, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia in the Washington metropolitan area. , the '' E ...
, who had just finished the
Trans-Arabian Pipeline
The Trans-Arabian Pipeline (Tapline), was an oil pipeline from Qaisumah in Saudi Arabia to Sidon in Lebanon, active 1950–1976. In its heyday, it was an important factor in the global trade of petroleum, as well as in American–Middle Eastern ...
. In other words the entire roster of United States corporations involved in the project was a repeat of the Trans-Arabian.
First welding commenced on November 28, 1950. The main welding crew began work on the 26-inch portion at mile 503, going east. A splinter crew worked from that starting point towards Banias. The project was hurried and the splinter crew upgraded to a regular second crew and started work soon after on the Iraqi-Syrian border, going east. Last shipment from Consolidated Western Steel departed from the
Port of Los Angeles February 1952 aboard the . The line became operational over the course of March and April 1952 first between the K-3 station and Banias using existing 12-inch and 16-inch excess capacity (the K-3 to Haifa branch of these predecessor lines was shut down in 1948). The tie-in weld at K-3 was made February 21 and the pipe was filled with oil as far as the T-2 station on March 6. The 149 mile section between K-3 and Kirkuk was the last to finish. The final weld was made at a meeting point 50 miles from Kirkuk. The new pipeline paralleled the existing 12 and 16-inch line to
Tripoli most of the way. The final 60 miles to Banias were laid on a new right-of-way. The final 88 miles from a point of highest elevation to Banias were of 26-inch pipe. Map:
Two opening ceremonies, one at Kirkuk on November 18, 1952, one at Banias on November 24 officially inaugurated the line.
K-3 Slugging Station
A 6,450 bbl/day topping plant by ''Foster Wheeler'' was finished in December 1951. Some of its output was slugged into the old 12-inch line to be used as fuel for downstream compressor stations, which had previously been run on crude oil. Fuel oil was previously produced at a rate of 10,000 bbl at Kirkuk and transported to K-2 via 12-inch pipe as a contingency after the shutdown of the
Abadan Refinery (
Abadan Crisis).
Operations
In October 1952 total production of the Kirkuk field reached 443,300 bbls/day. The maximum capacity of the 12-inch and 16-inch lines was 160,000 bbls/day.
During the
Suez crisis, the pipeline was shut down due to sabotage. Stations T-2, T-3 and T-4 on Syrian soil were bombed in early November 1956. When Israel withdrew its troops from Egypt, the Syrian government gave permission in March 1957 for repairs to commence. Damage to the pipes was minor and production at one third capacity using only Iraqi pumping stations was quickly restored.
Between 1982 and 2000 the pipeline was shut down by Iraq, due to Syrian support to Iran during the
Iran–Iraq War.
During the
2003 invasion of Iraq, the pipeline was damaged by U.S. air-strikes and remained out of operation since then.
[
]
On 17 December 2007, Syria and Iraq agreed to rehabilitate the pipeline. The pipeline was to be reconstructed by
Stroytransgaz, a subsidiary of
Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...
.
[
] However, Stroytransgaz failed to start the rehabilitation and the contract was nullified in April 2009.
[
] As the rehabilitation of the existing pipeline occurred to be more costly than building a new pipeline, in September 2010 Iraq and Syria agreed to build two new Kirkuk–Baniyas pipelines.
[
][
] One pipeline with capacity of would carry heavier crude oil while another pipeline capacity of would carry lighter crude oil.
[
]
As of 2023, Iraq seeks to activate the Kirkuk–Baniyas oil pipeline, in addition to the Basra-Aqaba pipeline with Jordan, and to revive a pipeline with Saudi Arabia that existed in the 1970s.
In April 2025, an Iraqi delegation headed by the Director of the
National Intelligence Service, Hamid al-Shattri, visited Syria and met with its President,
Ahmed al-Sharaa. They discussed—among other matters—restarting the pipeline’s operation.
See also
*
Kirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline
*
Petroleum industry in Iraq
References
External links
The Kirkuk – Baniyas Pipeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline
Oil pipelines in Iraq
Oil pipelines in Syria
Iraq–Syria relations