Iraqi tanker drivers in Syria call for safer conditions on export route

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi tanker drivers transporting oil through Syria called on Damascus to improve safety conditions along the route, citing fatigue and deadly accidents caused by the lack of rest stops.

“The road is good, and our brothers at the customs have had no shortcomings. But we only ask the Syrian government to provide us with rest stops on this road, as stopping on this street is dangerous,” Ahmed Yunis Ali Al-Ibaidi, an Iraqi tanker driver from Nineveh, told Rudaw on Thursday.

Baghdad began oil shipments via Syria in late March, with around 700 tankers transporting roughly 20,000 to 30,000 barrels per day to Baniyas through the al-Waleed border crossing.

“We ask the Syrian government first to provide us with rest stops, and second to assign customs personnel to accompany us. We drivers do not sleep. The lack of sleep and fatigue cause problems and accidents,” another driver, Faris Hussein, said.

Hussein said that due to the lack of stopping stations, two drivers recently died in separate accidents caused by exhaustion and fatigue along the route.

Iraq’s efforts to establish new export points come as traditional routes remain disrupted following the six-week war between Iran, Israel and the United States that began in late February.

As a result, Iraq’s oil sector has seen exports decline by more than 80 percent. The oil ministry reported that shipments in March fell to 18.6 million barrels, generating around $1.96 billion in revenue, compared to more than 99 million barrels and $6.81 billion the previous month.

Before the Iran war, Iraq exported around 3.4 million barrels per day. With southern routes still largely disrupted, the country is relying on the northern corridor through Turkey and now Syria to sustain oil exports.