Oil minister prepares pipeline talks ahead of Al-Zaidi Saudi visit
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair is heading to Saudi Arabia to prepare for Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi’s upcoming visit, with discussions expected to focus on reviving a long-idle oil pipeline linking Iraq to the Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu, a government source told Shafaq News on Monday.
The pipeline, stretching approximately 1,568 kilometers from the Zubair oilfield in Iraq’s southern Basra province to Yanbu, was built in the 1980s to transport Iraqi crude to international markets. Operations ceased in 1990 following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, while Saudi Arabia repurposed sections on its territory in 2001 to connect with its East-West pipeline, which provides an alternative export route bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
The source also indicated that Al-Zaidi’s talks in Saudi Arabia would address de-escalation efforts involving Yemen, Iraq’s position on regional developments, and the need to end conflicts between Arab countries.
In Kuwait, the prime minister is expected to discuss maritime border demarcation, the Khor Abdullah waterway, and Iraq’s water rights, alongside other bilateral issues.
Al-Zaidi is expected to begin his Gulf tour on Wednesday, October 14, according to another government source. He previously canceled a planned visit to Riyadh in July following deadly US-Saudi airstrikes on the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) across seven Iraqi provinces.
