The United States imports Iraqi fuel oil exported via Syria for the first time, bypassing the obstructed Strait of Hormuz.

(1) Due to disruptions in Gulf region trade routes and the ongoing interruption of the Strait of Hormuz, Iraq has further expanded its Mediterranean export channels, utilizing Syrian ports as alternative transportation routes to ship energy resources to the global market. (2) Shipping data indicate that between June and July this year, three Aframax oil tankers loaded fuel oil at the Syrian Mediterranean port of Baniyas and transported it to the US Gulf Coast. According to informed sources, these cargoes were all Iraqi-origin fuel oil, shipped by truck across the border from Iraq to Syria before being loaded onto vessels. (3) According to Kpler data, this is the first time in history that a shipment of fuel oil has been recorded as being exported from Syria with the United States as its destination, marking the first-ever import by the US of Iraqi fuel oil exported via Syria.