Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani confirmed Saturday that the government held talks to reactivate the Iraqi-Syrian export line.

The Prime Minister said in a speech during the Baghdad International Energy Forum that “we held talks weeks ago to reactivate the Iraqi-Syrian export line, to be an option for the diversity of Iraqi export ports, while providing flexibility in crude oil transport capabilities, and we have already started to extend a pipe (Basra-Haditha) with a length of (685) KM, which is located in this direction.”

“Iraqi oil will continue to feed global markets, for more than 120 years in the least estimates, although our export share is not commensurate with the size of the reserve, productive capacity and population,” he said as quoted by Iraq News Agency.

Al-Sudani also underscored Iraq’s openness to receiving oil companies wishing to invest in oil and gas.

He pointed out to the end of the burning of associated gas, and got the full benefit of 1,300 million standard cubic feet.

“We had to work on multiple ways, in dealing with oil wealth, expansions in the capacities of current refineries, the opening of the giant Karbala refinery, and the operation and development of all refining units in the rest of the Iraqi refineries, as well as the announcement of (6) investment opportunities in the refineries sector, to strengthen the partnership with the private sector,” he added.

“We have a strategic goal to convert Iraq’s oil exports into high-value derivatives, instead of crude oil, by at least 40% of our total production, by 2030, and we have already started oil projects on this basis.” (PNA)