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Iraq-Syria Pipeline To 'Bypass' Hormuz Likely To Take Four Years, $15BN To Build

Zero Rss
1 month 4 weeks ago
Iraq-Syria Pipeline To 'Bypass' Hormuz Likely To Take Four Years, $15BN To Build

Via The Cradle

Iraq's plan to build a pipeline to export oil through Syria and partially bypass the Strait of Hormuz ​will likely take four years to complete and cost $15 billion, Reuters reported on Monday.

Iraq urgently seeks new outlets for its oil exports, which have plummeted since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israel war on the Islamic Republic that started in February.

via Axios

In July, Baghdad exported only 35.5 million barrels through its Basra ports via the Strait of Hormuz, according to the state-run oil firm SOMO. Before the war, Iraq exported about 108 million barrels of oil per month.

The fall in exports has created a budget crisis, as Iraq relies on oil revenues to fund 90 percent of its spending.

Iraq and Syria signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington in July to revive a historic pipeline linking the Kirkuk fields to the Syrian port city of Banias on the Mediterranean Sea.

A separate agreement was signed with a consortium including Chevron, UCC Holding, and TI Capital to undertake technical and financial studies for the pipeline's reconstruction.

The pipeline is expected to transport 2 million barrels per day to the Syrian port, where the crude can then be shipped to Europe by tanker.

But a planned pipeline to export via Syria may not provide an alternative to Hormuz as soon as Iraqi officials had hoped.

"Both sources said the plan would require laying entirely new infrastructure rather than rehabilitating the existing pipeline and cost at least $15 billion," Reuters reported.

Rebuilding the pipeline could take as long as four years because it has been unused since the 1980s and is extensively damaged.

Even the intact sections of that pipeline would have to be replaced as they are not compatible with newly developed specifications, one of the sources said.

An entirely new integrated crude oil pipeline system linking Iraq's southern and northern fields to a central hub in ⁠Haditha, in western Iraq, would also have to be built, the second source stated.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent:

The Strait of Hormuz is never going back to the way it was because the Iranians have used, or tried to use it, as a choke point.

Over the next two years, the Strait of Hormuz is going to become irrelevant.

It is going to become just another… pic.twitter.com/6dmYCA8HkU

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) August 9, 2026

The four-year timeline is also well beyond the two-year period estimated by US Treasury Scott Bessent for Hormuz to become "irrelevant" due to the construction of new underground pipelines by the Gulf states.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/18/2026 - 14:25
Tyler Durden

Here's Where The Nation's Hottest Housing Markets Are

Zero Rss
1 month 4 weeks ago
Here's Where The Nation's Hottest Housing Markets Are

The US housing market's top 10 hottest ZIP codes this year are all located in the Midwest and Northeast for the fourth consecutive year  - as tight inventories due to limited homebuilding has fueled competition, according to a Monday report from Realtor.com. 

A builder works on a commercial property under construction in Peabody, Mass., on Jan. 12, 2015. Peabody is the nation's hottest housing market, according to Realtor.com. Elise Amendola/AP Photo

The top 10 - as measured by buyer demand gauged by unique views and how quickly homes are selling are located in:

  • Massachusetts
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Connecticut
  • Pennsylvania
  • Wisconsin
  • Illinois
  • Michigan

The hot areas received up to 5.3 times as many views and sold substantially faster than the national average, by as many as 42 days. According to a July Realtor.com report, the national median time on market was 53 days in June.

Meanwhile, nine out of the 10 hottest ZIP codes sold at or above list prices in the first half of the year - vs the typical home nationwide which sold for about 2.3 percent below asking price, the Aug. 10 report shows.

As The Epoch Times notes further, tight inventory, driven in part by insufficient homebuilding, is fueling heightened competition in the hottest housing markets, the report notes.

Nationwide, inventory for sale remained 11.3 percent below pre-COVID-19 pandemic norms in June, according to the report. But in the hottest ZIP codes, inventory was 60.5 percent below pre-pandemic levels - more than five times the national gap.

By contrast, the report says that stronger homebuilding and slower price growth in the South and West over the past two years have reduced competition. As a result, the report says, "For the fourth year running, the South and West failed to produce a single entry on the [hottest ZIP code] list."

Meanwhile, the report shows that many of the hottest ZIP codes this year are located in outer-ring suburbs of major metropolitan areas, where buyers can get more space while remaining within commuting distance of city centers.

Peabody, Massachusetts - previously ranked third in 2021 - moved to the top of the list this year. Located about 20 miles north of Boston, the city has a median home price of $600,000, with 70 percent of views of its listings coming from the Boston metro.

Homes there spent a median of only 20 days on the market during the first half of the year, and typically sold for just over the asking price.

Montclair and Sewell, New Jersey, ranked second and third, respectively. Fairport, New York, and Westfield, Massachusetts, rounded out the top five. The remaining spots in the top 10 went to Livonia, Michigan; Lititz, Pennsylvania; North Haven, Connecticut; New Berlin, Wisconsin; and Wheaton, Illinois.

"This year's hottest ZIP codes tell us that buyers aren't simply chasing the lowest price tag anymore," said Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com. "They're chasing space, character and a manageable commute to a major job center, and they're willing to pay a premium to get it."

Jones added that buyers within these ZIP codes tended to be financially prepared, bringing larger down payments and stronger credit profiles to the table. On average, she said, down payments for homes on the hot list are 17.1 percent, compared with about 13.1 percent nationally. Looking at credit scores, the median for hot list homebuyers is 766, versus about 747 nationally.

Overall, the report concluded, buyers in the top ZIP codes are motivated and choose communities that offer the best blend of value, access, and quality of life.

"As mortgage rates remain high and inventory levels gradually recover, expect these kinds of high-performing, value-driven suburban areas to remain at the forefront of market activity," the report states.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/18/2026 - 14:05
Tyler Durden

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