Gasoline shipments from Syria to Iraq have begun by road, establishing a two-way energy corridor that Baghdad has been developing as an alternative route following disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.

The first cargo, comprising around 32,800 metric tons of gasoline, arrived at Syria’s Baniyas port aboard the Marshall Islands-flagged Avanti. The gasoline was transferred to storage tanks at the Baniyas refinery before being loaded onto trucks for delivery to Iraq.

Tareq Shallash, Director of the Refining Directorate at the state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC), said 77 tanker trucks had already departed Baniyas for the Iraqi border, with loading continuing and additional shipments expected.

The gasoline was not produced in Syria or taken from stocks intended for the domestic market. The operation is being conducted under a transit contract between SPC and Qatar-based UCC Holding, which supplied the gasoline and is overseeing its transportation.

Iraqi Oil Ministry spokesperson Saleem al-Rikabi confirmed that Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) signed a contract with the Qatari company to supply Iraq with improved gasoline through Baniyas by road tankers.

LSEG shipping data showed that another Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, Gaita, loaded gasoline at the Port of Houston and sailed to Baniyas.

Iraq began using the Syrian route after the Iran war disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, its main Gulf trade route. Baghdad plans to continue developing alternative routes through Syria even if traffic through the strait normalizes.

Previously, fuel oil moved in the opposite direction, from Iraq to Syrian ports before being shipped overseas. Reuters reported in July that Iraqi fuel oil transported by road to Baniyas and then by sea had reached the US for the first time.

Shallash said the current agreement covers gasoline, but future deals could expand the corridor to other petroleum products, crude oil, and other goods.