Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced that his country is moving to pump around one million barrels of oil per day toward Syria in a first phase, as part of a plan to distribute its oil exports between the Syrian and Turkish routes.
Al-Zaidi explained that the step comes as part of diversifying the outlets for Iraqi oil exports, with a second phase of this approach to be considered at a later stage.
Background to the decision
The Iraqi prime minister stressed that Iraq "cannot remain hostage to a single export corridor".
