Iraq secures alternative oil export routes amid Hormuz disruptions

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq has secured alternative routes for oil exports and activated border crossings to sustain trade as disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz strain the country’s economy, Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi announced on Friday.

Speaking at the eighth Baghdad International Dialogue Conference, Al-Zaidi said the government has “more than one solution” to manage the regional crisis. He acknowledged “difficult and challenging circumstances,” calling restrictions in Hormuz a major economic obstacle and noting that the waterway “did not close even during the harshest days of the sanctions.”

Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, relies on crude for about 90% of federal revenue, making the Strait —normally a conduit for roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies— critical to the country’s finances. Oil Minister Basim Al-Abadi recently put July exports at about 49 million barrels, while shipments have averaged around two million barrels per day since early August, their highest level since the crisis began. Al-Zaidi this week ordered oil companies to operate around the clock to boost output.

Read more: Iraq pushes new oil routes beyond Hormuz

Over the next six years, Al-Zaidi said the government aims to raise Iraq’s OPEC production quota to between eight and 10 million barrels per day.

He added that the draft budget for next year would soon be submitted, with electricity and solar power among its priorities, and assured public employees and retirees that government payments remain secure. Al-Zaidi projected that changes to domestic fuel consumption under a new economic model would save 17.8 trillion Iraqi dinars ($13.53B) annually.

On weapons outside state authority, the premier indicated that political forces had agreed on the principle of bringing them under government control and were working out a mechanism for handing them over, ruling out armed confrontation with factions. He also maintained that the government’s anti-corruption campaign retains broad political backing.

Read more: Corruption arrests in Iraq pass 210 under PM al-Zaidi

Organized by the Iraqi Dialogue Institute, the eighth Baghdad International Dialogue runs through Aug. 22, bringing together government, political, diplomatic, and academic figures to examine developments in Iraq and the region.