Iraq signs deals with Western oil firms, including to revive Syria pipeline

Iraq has signed preliminary deals with Western oil companies, including Chevron, to rehabilitate a pipeline from Kirkuk to Syria's Mediterranean port of Baniyas. The project, overseen by a US-led international consortium, aims to reduce Iraq's reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, which has been disrupted by the US-Iran war. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi attended a business summit in Washington. The US ambassador to Turkey stated the pipeline would make the Strait of Hormuz an 'afterthought'.